Founded in 1343, the Università di Pisa (UNIPI) is one of Italy’s most prestigious academic institutions, renowned for its excellence in scientific research, engineering, and space sciences. With a strong emphasis on innovation and sustainability, UNIPI has played a key role in European and international research collaborations, particularly in aerospace, green propulsion, and sustainable energy solutions. The university has a long-standing tradition of developing cutting-edge technologies, partnering with major space agencies and industry leaders to tackle challenges in space exploration and environmental sustainability. UNIPI’s research spans from fundamental science to applied engineering, contributing to advancements in next-generation propulsion systems, space sustainability, and energy-efficient solutions.
In BANTER, UNIPI provides leadership across project management, systems engineering, propulsion development, and exploitation activities:
WP1 – Project Management & Coordination
UNIPI ensures seamless governance of BANTER, overseeing administrative, financial, and technical coordination. It organizes consortium meetings, maintains the consortium agreement, monitors progress against milestones and deliverables, harmonizes reporting, and implements quality and risk-management processes.
WP2 – System Engineering of BANTER
As WP2 leader, UNIPI defines end-to-end mission and system requirements, develops a structured test and verification strategy up to mid-TRL levels, and consolidates the qualification roadmap toward high TRLs. It drives the iterative assessment of prototypes and refines the overall system architecture in close collaboration with partners.
WP3 – Nuclear Thermal Propulsion
UNIPI spearheads the design and validation of the particle-bed reactor core and associated coolant and thrust channels, coordinating prototype manufacturing and performance testing in its facilities. It also supports irradiation studies and integrates test feedback to optimize reactor and thermal-propulsion sub-systems.
WP4 – Nuclear Electric Propulsion
Leading the power-generation subsystem design, UNIPI develops dynamic models and iterates cycle configurations to meet mission power needs. It collaborates on electric thruster and cathode design, and oversees ground-test planning, data analysis, and performance validation in partnership with IRS.
WP5 – Communication, Dissemination & Exploitation
UNIPI contributes to the project’s outreach and scientific exploitation—authoring publications, organizing workshops, and engaging stakeholders—while taking charge of data-management and IPR strategies to ensure FAIR/GDPR compliance, open-access dissemination, and clear pathways to standardization and market uptake.
