WSAASS-2025

Letizia Caito is a Technologist at the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF), Scientific Directorate, specializing in project management and coordination of large-scale research and technological innovation infrastructures. She currently serves as Project Manager for the High Resolution Multi-Object Spectrograph (HR-MOS) and as Project Controller for the national Special Space Research Program (PRORIS) aimed at the search forRare Earth Elements (REEs) on the Moon. Previously, she was Project Manager within the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) – Low-Frequency Aperture Array (LFAA) project, overseeing coordination between international partners and industry for the production and integration of advanced antenna systems for the INAF team. Since 2023 to the end of 2024, she has coordinated the Tiger Team in the INAF Program Office for Italy’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), focusing on monitoring, control, and strategic alignment of major research-to-business initiatives. Letizia holds a Ph.D. in Relativistic Astrophysics and a Master’s in Space Policy and Institutions. She has extensive experience in European and international projects, having worked with the European Space Agency (ESA), Italian Space Agency (ASI), and the European Space Policy Institute (ESPI), where she contributed to policy, technology transfer, and innovation management. She has co-authored around eighty scientific publications and numerous technical reports. Since March 2024, she has been affiliated with the National Center for HPC, Big Data and Quantum Computing (ICSC), where she collaborates on activities for Fundamental Research and Space Economy(Spoke 2). She is a member of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) and the ESA European Centre for Space Economy and Commerce (ECSECO).