Creating Infinity
Uniting Industries
A Passion Project
Infinity was created by people passionate about astronomy and scientific development. BFC Space initiated the project bringing together a team across media, engineering, academia, and aviation to share in a dream to make the stars accessible to all. Partnering with leading academics and engineers from the University of Bologna, this dream is well under way.
“If you are still in the early 2000’s these projects might seem like science fiction, today we finally move from fantasy to reality; basically, it is a dream come true. “
Franco Cappiello,
President BFC Space
Key Partners
BFC Space
Part of the BFC Media Group, BFC Space is the publisher behind COSMO magazine for astronomy news as well as the publisher of Forbes Italia and television shows on BFC Video. BFC Media, founded in 1995, is a company listed in the Milan Stock Exchange and produces content for millions of audiences including educational material and courses.
University of Bologna
The University of Bologna is a research university in Bologna, Italy. Founded in 1088 by an organised guild of students, it is the oldest university in the world, as well as one of the leading academic institutions in Italy and Europe.
Building a Space Telescope
Designing Infinity
Phase A of Infinity has been underway for over a year. This part of the project has been entrusted to the University of Bologna, and in particular to it’s Interdepartmental Center for Aerospace Research (Ciri-Aero) led by Founder Professor Paolo Tortora.
The goal of this preliminary phase is to define the feasibility of the project ensuring it will have a long service life and be highly reliable. The full project is planned along with the major outputs and types of subsystems needed to create Infinity.
This study includes an analysis of the trajectory, the activities of the mission phases and operational parameters. This phase also defines the communications with the mission control and the recovery of the images produced by Infinity once it is in orbit.
The work completed up till now allows us to enter the next phase of making infinity a reality as we go into the construction of the components and technology needed to make Infinity a reality.
Infinity will operate in 3 main phases
Observation Phase
The astronomical observation will take up most of the orbital time and be Infinity’s primary function.
Communication Phase
The astronomical observation will be interspersed will periods of communications with ground stations below where Infinity will download the data of it’s recordings.
Charging Phase
In order to keep itself functional, Infinity will use align its solar panels towards the sun so that it can charge it’s batteries and operate throughout it’s orbit even when it has reduced access to the sun. .
Leading the next wave
Ciri-Aero
The Interdepartmental Center for Industrial Aerospace Research at the University of Bologna. Founded in 2002 with the aim of researching and developing miniaturized space technologies including micro satellites.
Ciri-Aero was founded in 2002 from a need to provide universities with small satellite platforms capable of carrying out in-depth educational activities and within budget constraints. Ciri-Aero allows students to work on the full cycle of a space project from ground operations to orbit. The Ciri-Aero workshop also covers Alma Mater Ground Station (AMGS), a fully automated mission control center for communication with low earth orbit satellites.
Founded on experience
AlmaSpace
Born from Ciri-Aero, Alma Space Srl deals with the commercial projects of the University. The most important project that AlmaSpace was awarded in late 2012, following a contest of the Education Office of the European Space Agency (ESA), has been Eseo (European Student Earth Orbiter), a program designed to provide college students several European countries unprecedented practical experience, to help prepare future astronautical engineers qualified for the space industry.
This goal was achieved through the design, development, integration and testing of a microsatellite to 55 pounds, for a sun-synchronous low Earth orbit. The launch took place successfully in December 2018
At the forefront
Leading the Design
Professor Paolo Tortora
Head of Ciri-Aero and Professor of Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Bologna
Professor at University of Bologna since 2017, carries out his research in the field of Space Systems.
His research interests include small satellites and innovative spacecraft subsystems, including the ground segment, and planetary exploration focusing on radio science experiments with deep space missions.
Scientific director of several national and international research projects, he collaborates with European and US-based companies and space agencies. Author of 115 publications indexed on Scopus (h-index = 21, March 2020). Go to the Curriculum vitae
Project Leaders
Denis Masetti
Editor of BFC Media
Denis is the Editor of BFC Media, a media group based in Milan, Italy that produces publications and television programs across business, culture, technology, finance, cycling and astronomy.
Among the publications he oversees are Forbes Italia, the Italian arm of Forbes Magazine and Cosmo Magazine, a monthly Astronomy publication dedicated to the stars.
Franco Cappiello
President BFC Space
Franco is a passionate astronomer and heads up BFC Space.
Franco has managed many different companies across industries from Consulting to Finance and Television.
Walter Riva
Editor COSMO
Walter oversees Cosmo Astronomy magazine as it’s Editor in Chief. Cosmo is a monthly Italian publication dedicated to Astronomy, the space industry and stargazing.
Piero Stroppa
Professor and Physics Author
Along with being Editorial Director of the Astronomical and space magazine Cosmo, Piero is also an author in numerous publications and volumes Physics scientific education. From 1992 to 2019 he was editorial coordinator, and editorial director from 2018, of the astronomical and spatial information publication ‘Nuovo Orione’.
In 2004, the International Astronomical Union Officially named an asteroid after him: 46720 Pierostroppa.
Next Phase
Supported by the community
We need your help to bring Infinity to life
As we enter the construction phase, we need the help of the astronomical community and the world to raise the funds to build the project. We believe the project is for everyone and want to open up the development of Infinity on Kickstarter where you can back the project and become part of the project!
Follow our Kickstarter campaign and see how you can be involved and be one of the first to take control of Infinity. There are lots of different rewards along with the initial operational sessions of Infinity!
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Be the first to support the project and book a session on Infinity
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Infinty Space Telescope is a project by BFC Space, Part of the BFC Media Group, in partnership with Ciri-Aero from the University of Bologna.