Announced on Thursday, the deal marks a significant milestone in international space collaboration. ASI President Teodoro Valenti confirmed that the agreement will allow Italian experiments to be part of the first commercial Starship mission to Mars, enabling Italy to contribute directly to Mars-bound scientific exploration.

SpaceX CEO Gwynne Shotwell welcomed the partnership in a post on the X platform, praising the collaboration and hinting at more developments to come.

Starship, the massive rocket SpaceX is developing for deep space missions to the Moon and Mars, is still undergoing testing. Its most recent test flight ended in a fiery explosion earlier this year, but the company remains confident in its long-term goals.