Four ordinary stamps from the thematic series “Production and economic excellence” dedicated to Space and the Future have been issued by the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy: Italian Space Programmes, Piero Angela, Italian Space Agency, Italian Astronauts, with a value of €3.20 for each stamp, category B zone 3 fee. The stamps are centred on a sheet (Print run: 200,000 sheets, which is the equivalent of 800,000 stamps). The stamps are printed by the Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato, in rotogravure, on white, neutral coated, self-adhesive, non-fluorescent paper.
The sketches are by Paola Garivaghi for the stamps dedicated to Italian Space Programmes and the Italian Space Agency; provided by Philatelic Production Centre of the Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato for the stamp dedicated to Piero Angela; Fabio Abbati for the stamp dedicated to Italian Astronauts. The entire sheet depicts the same detail of the cosmos with stars and planets in the background of the stamp dedicated to Piero Angela. At the bottom left, the logo of the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy is reproduced. The sheet is completed at the top with the wording “SPAZIO E FUTURO“. On the bottom right is the barcode for the automatic detection of the stamp. The four stamps, arranged in two columns in pairs, respectively depict: Italian space programmes: the Earth with the COSMO-SkyMed satellites in orbit around it representing the most important civil and military system of radar satellites for observation of the Earth; Piero Angela: a portrait of Piero Angela, Italian journalist specialised in science, in the foreground of a detail of the cosmos with stars and planets; Italian Space Agency: a reinterpretation of a satellite view of the Italian peninsula on which the logo of the Italian Space Agency stands out in the centre; Italian Astronauts: a reinterpretation of an Italian astronaut during a space walk. Completing the stamps are the words ‘PROGRAMMI SPAZIALI ITALIANI’, ‘COSMO-SKYMED’, ‘PIERO ANGELA’, ‘1928-2022’ and ‘ASTRONAUTI ITALIANI’, ‘ITALY’ and the category ‘B zone 3’ fee.
Where to find the stamps
The first-day cancellation will be available at the Rome V.R. post office. The stamps and related philatelic products, postcards, cards and pamphlets will be available at Post Offices offering a Stamp Collector Service, “Spazio Filatelia” in Florence, Genoa, Milan, Naples, Rome, Rome 1, Turin, Trieste, Venice, Verona and on the filatelia.poste.it website. A four-part A4 stamp collecting folder has also been produced for the occasion, containing the sheet, a cancelled and franked postcard, four first-day of issue envelopes and a bulletin
