Messages of hope for all humanity will soon be sent on a mission into space. The messages are stored in immensely small objects: a nanolibrary in turn sent by means of a nanosattelite. The Spei Satelles Space Mission is a joint endeavor born on the third anniversary of Pope Francis’ Statio Orbis event in St. Peter’s Square at the height of the pandemic. It is the brainchild of Monsignor Lucio Ruiz, secretary of the Vatican Dicastery for Communication, in collaboration with the Italian Space Agency, the Polytechnic University of Turin, the National Research Center’s Institute of Photonics and Nanotechnology, and the Digital Apostolate of the Archdiocese of Turin. The Spei Satelles (Guardians of Hope) Mission will be fulfilled on 10 June 2023 when its messages are launched into the immensity of space.
Speaking at a Vatican press conference, Paolo Ruffini, the first lay person to serve as prefect of the Dicastery for Communication, noted that “it is significant that in an era of change such as the one we are currently experiencing, a community composed of scientists, researchers, academics and communicators has gathered today to tell us about the work they produced together as a small sign of unity and hope in a very divided and desperate world.”