FAST Aerospace is glad to announce that it has been proclaimed the winner of the ninth edition of DigithON 2024, Italy’s first and most important digital innovation marathon. This prestigious award was announced at the closing ceremony Saturday, September 7 in beautiful Bisceglie, Puglia (Italy), and it testifies the company’s ambitious vision for the future and its determination to emerge among Italy’s and Europe’s major aerospace manufacturers.

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The startup secured the first prize of €10,000 offered by Confindustria Bari-BAT, together with the ESA BIC Brindisi award, which offers a three-month pre-incubation program that includes 10 hours of coaching with top aerospace industry experts and support in preparing the application for the ESA BIC Brindisi Open Call.

 

The idea brought by FAST is project HyperDart, an innovative reusable air-launcher that will link Italy directly to space, making it more accessible and allowing frequent satellite launches. HyperDart intercepts a well-known problem in the space access sector, that is the bottleneck generated by the high demand of rides to space, with which vertical rockets are struggling to keep up pace. By design, HyperDart can take off from existing runways, such as Taranto-Grottaglie spaceport’s, providing the continent with a new independent and reliable bridge to space.

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"We are glad that DigithON’s jury and the scientific committee have positively valued our project," says Alessandro Castelvetri, Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) and Co-founder of FAST Aerospace, who pitched the idea on Saturday at the digital marathon. "This recognition validates the hard work and passion that our team has put into developing HyperDart, and testifies to the growing national interest for the world of hypersonic unmanned flight”.

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Up to 100 startups participated in this year’s competition, presenting their ideas to a panel of industry experts, investors, and academics. “We are honored to have been chosen among so many innovative startups, with which we congratulate, and we look forward to meeting them again in the future. It is heartwarming to see so many young entrepreneurs working on the fringe of their respective field, putting innovation to the service of people" Castelvetri adds.

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FAST Aerospace has ambitious plans moving forward. "This grant will allow FAST to acquire computational power for its simulations, pivotal for the development of HyperDart and for the drones of the MiniDart family. We are eager to start collaborating with ESA BIC Brindisi as well, to lay the foundation for future prolific collaborations in the Puglia region and more in general in Southern Italy, further contributing to Italy’s growing tech ecosystem" concluded Castelvetri.

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FAST Aerospace publicly thanks all the DigithON staff for the organization of such a well-made and galvanizing competition, Confindustria Bari-BAT for the prize granted and ESA BIC Brindisi for the program provided.

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For further information on FAST Aerospace Srl and its initiatives contact:

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Dr. Alessandro Castelvetri

Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) and Co-founder

a.castelvetri@fast-aerospace.com

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© 2024 FAST Aerospace Srl