ASI Renews Agreement for Kenyan Personnel at the Luigi Broglio Space Centre
On 26 March 2025, the Italian Space Agency (ASI) led the signing of the renewed Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) for Kenyan personnel working at the Luigi Broglio Space Centre in Malindi, Kenya. Covering the period from 2025 to 2028, the agreement aims to strengthen the relationship between ASI and its employees while enabling a conducive working environment. The signing took place at the Luigi Broglio Space Centre, signifying a key step in promoting stability and collaboration within the centre’s workforce.
Luca Vincenzo Maria Salamone, Director General of the Italian Space Agency, led the negotiating delegation from ASI, which included Alessandro Preti, Director of Human Resources, Dalila Sabato, Head of the Union Relations Service, Munzer Jahjah, the head of the Malindi site, and Maurizio Toninelli from the Malindi Site. The agreement was signed alongside Antony Rajoro, Secretary General of the Kenya Scientific, Research, International, Technical and Institutions Workers Union (KRISTAIWU) and the Kenya Space Agency, represented by Joseph Kagotho Muriithi.
Following the signing of the agreement, the Head of the Malindi Site, Munzer Jahjah, alongside representatives of the ASI delegation and the Union representatives, met with the employees at the Malindi site to present and explain the new CBA.
About the Luigi Broglio Space Centre, Malindi
The Luigi Broglio Space Centre is a facility jointly run by the Kenyan and Italian governments that served as a spaceport for the launch of Italian and international satellites from 1967 to 1988. Jointly developed through a partnership between the Sapienza University of Rome’s Aerospace Research Centre and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). From 1964 until its last launch in 1988, the centre had 27 launches through its San Marco launch platform. Its near-equatorial location and eastward-facing launch trajectory make it ideal for placing satellites into low-inclination orbits. Additionally, equatorial locations are suitable for launching rockets due to their rotational velocity, which reduces the energy and fuel required for launches, allowing for more mass to be sent into orbit for less cost.
In recent years, Italy has announced that the centre would be re-used to launch Earth Observation satellites. Additionally, during the 2nd Council of Ministers Meeting held at the centre in October 2024, Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Defence, Honourable Soipan Tuya and Italy’s Minister for Enterprises and Made in Italy, Honourable Senator Adolfo Urso, inaugurated the Luigi Broglio Space Museum, to serve as an educational and awareness platform for the public. The centre also hosts ground stations that are used to track NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and ASI satellites, and recently established its first ionospheric observatory under the New Observatory for Real-Time Ionospheric Sounding over Kenya (NORISK) project.