San Marco platform
Encyclopedia
The Luigi Broglio Space Centre (BSC) is an Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

-owned spaceport
Spaceport
A spaceport or cosmodrome is a site for launching spacecraft, by analogy with seaport for ships or airport for aircraft. The word spaceport, and even more so cosmodrome, has traditionally been used for sites capable of launching spacecraft into orbit around Earth or on interplanetary trajectories...

 near Malindi
Malindi
Malindi is a town on Malindi Bay at the mouth of the Galana River, lying on the Indian Ocean coast of Kenya. It is 120 kilometres northeast of Mombasa. The population of Malindi is 117,735 . It is the capital of the Malindi District.Tourism is the major industry in Malindi. The city is...

, Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...

, named after its founder and Italian space pioneer Luigi Broglio
Luigi Broglio
Luigi Broglio , was an Italian aerospace engineer, airforce lieutenant colonel and dean of the school of aeronautical engineering at the University of Rome La Sapienza...

. Developed in the 1960s through a partnership between the University of Rome La Sapienza's
University of Rome La Sapienza
The Sapienza University of Rome, officially Sapienza – Università di Roma, formerly known as Università degli studi di Roma "La Sapienza", is a coeducational, autonomous state university in Rome, Italy...

 Aerospace Research Centre and NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...

, the BSC served as a spaceport for the launch of both Italian and international satellite
Satellite
In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....

s. The centre comprises a main offshore launch site, known as the San Marco platform, as well as two secondary control platforms and a communications ground station
Earth station
A ground station, earth station, or earth terminal is a terrestrial terminal station designed for extraplanetary telecommunication with spacecraft, and/or reception of radio waves from an astronomical radio source. Ground stations are located either on the surface of the Earth, or within Earth's...

 on the mainland. In 2003 a legislative decree handed the Italian Space Agency
Italian Space Agency
The Italian Space Agency is a government agency established in 1988 to fund, regulate and coordinate space exploration activities in Italy...

 management of the centre, beginning in 2004, and the name changed from the previous San Marco Equatorial Range. While the ground station is still in use for satellite communications, the BSC is not currently used as a launch site.

History

The San Marco platform was a former oil platform, located to the north of Cape Ras Ngomeni on the coastal sublittoral
Littoral
The littoral zone is that part of a sea, lake or river that is close to the shore. In coastal environments the littoral zone extends from the high water mark, which is rarely inundated, to shoreline areas that are permanently submerged. It always includes this intertidal zone and is often used to...

 of Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...

, at 2°56′18"S 40°12′45"E, close to the equator (which is an energetically favourable location for rocket launches). Launches from the platform were controlled from the Santa Rita platform, a second former oil platform located southeast of the San Marco platform, and a smaller Santa Rita II housed the facility's radar. A ground station located on the cape forms the centre's primary telemetry site.
The Italian space research program began in 1959 with the creation of the CRA (Centro Ricerche Aerospaziali) at the University of Rome. Three years later, on 7 September 1962, the university signed a memorandum of understanding
Memorandum of understanding
A memorandum of understanding is a document describing a bilateral or multilateral agreement between parties. It expresses a convergence of will between the parties, indicating an intended common line of action. It is often used in cases where parties either do not imply a legal commitment or in...

 with NASA to collaborate on a space research program named San Marco (St. Mark). The Italian launch team, trained by NASA, was to first launch a rocket from Wallops Island
Wallops Island
Wallops Island is a island off the east coast of Virginia, part of the barrier islands that stretch along the eastern seaboard of the United States of America.It is located in Accomack County, Virginia...

 under NASA supervision and first launch successfully took off on 16 December 1964. The San Marco project was focused on the launching of scientific satellites by Scout rockets
Scout (rocket)
The Scout family of rockets were launch vehicles designed to place small satellites into orbit around the Earth. The Scout multistage rocket was the first orbital launch vehicle to be entirely composed of solid fuel stages....

 from a mobile rigid platform located close to the equator. This station, composed of 3 oil platforms and two logistical support boats, was installed off the Kenya coast, close to the town of Malindi
Malindi
Malindi is a town on Malindi Bay at the mouth of the Galana River, lying on the Indian Ocean coast of Kenya. It is 120 kilometres northeast of Mombasa. The population of Malindi is 117,735 . It is the capital of the Malindi District.Tourism is the major industry in Malindi. The city is...

.

The program schedule included three phases:
  • Suborbital launches from Wallops Island and the equatorial platform,
  • Orbital launch of an experimental satellite from Wallops Island,
  • Orbital launches from the equatorial platform.


The San Marco launch platform complex was in use from March 1964 to March 1988, with a total of 27 launches, primarily sounding rockets including the Nike Apache
Nike Apache
The Nike Apache was a two-stage sounding rocket used by NASA to loft instruments into the upper atmosphere. The Nike Apache was launched 636 times between 1961 and 1978...

, Nike Tomahawk
Nike Tomahawk
The Nike Tomahawk was a two stage American sounding rocket. The first stage was a Nike rocket, the second a Tomahawk rocket.The Nike Tomahawk has a ceiling of 230 statute miles , a payload capacity of 100 pounds , a launch thrust of 49,000 pounds of force , a launch weight of 2,200 pounds , a...

, Arcas
Arcas (rocket)
Arcas — also designated ARCAS — was the designation of an American sounding rocket, which was launched between July 31, 1959 and August 9, 1991 at least 421 times. The Arcas has a maximum flight altitude of 52 kilometers, a takeoff thrust of 1.5 kN, a takeoff weight of 34 kilograms, and a...

 and Black Brant
Black Brant (rocket)
The Black Brant is a Canadian-designed sounding rocket built by Bristol Aerospace in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Over 800 Black Brants of various versions have been launched since they were first produced in 1961, and the type remains one of the most popular sounding rockets ever built...

 launchers. Low payload weight orbital launches were also made, using the solid-propellant Scout
Scout (rocket)
The Scout family of rockets were launch vehicles designed to place small satellites into orbit around the Earth. The Scout multistage rocket was the first orbital launch vehicle to be entirely composed of solid fuel stages....

 rocket (in its B, D and G subvariants). The first satellite specifically for X-ray astronomy
X-ray astronomy
X-ray astronomy is an observational branch of astronomy which deals with the study of X-ray observation and detection from astronomical objects. X-radiation is absorbed by the Earth's atmosphere, so instruments to detect X-rays must be taken to high altitude by balloons, sounding rockets, and...

, Uhuru
Uhuru (satellite)
Uhuru was the first satellite launched specifically for the purpose of X-ray astronomy. It was also known as the X-ray Explorer Satellite, SAS-A , SAS 1, or Explorer 42.The observatory was launched on 12 December 1970 into an initial orbit of about 560 km apogee, 520 km...

, was launched from San Marco on a Scout B rocket on 12 December 1970.

The ground segment is in use and continues to track NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...

, ESA and Italian satellites. However, the two platforms fell into disrepair during the 1990s. Recently, the Italian Space Agency
Italian Space Agency
The Italian Space Agency is a government agency established in 1988 to fund, regulate and coordinate space exploration activities in Italy...

 has conducted a feasibility study to reactivate it for the Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

n launcher
Launch vehicle
In spaceflight, a launch vehicle or carrier rocket is a rocket used to carry a payload from the Earth's surface into outer space. A launch system includes the launch vehicle, the launch pad and other infrastructure....

 START-1
START-1
Start-1 is a Russian satellite launch vehicle based on the RT-2PM Topol, a Soviet intercontinental ballistic missile developed by Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology.- History :...

.

Satellite launches

Launch Date Vehicle Payload NSSDC ID Comments
26-04-1967 Scout B San Marco 2 1967-038A San Marco 1
San Marco 1
San Marco 1, also known as San Marco A, was the first Italian satellite, and one of the earliest non-Soviet/US spacecraft. Built in-house by the Italian Space Research Commission on behalf of the National Research Council, it was the first of five as part of the Italian-US San Marco programme.The...

 had previously been launched from Wallops
Wallops Flight Facility
Wallops Flight Facility , located on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, is operated by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, primarily as a rocket launch site to support science and exploration missions for NASA and other U.S. government agencies...

 in the USA
12-12-1970 Scout B Uhuru (SAS-A)
Uhuru (satellite)
Uhuru was the first satellite launched specifically for the purpose of X-ray astronomy. It was also known as the X-ray Explorer Satellite, SAS-A , SAS 1, or Explorer 42.The observatory was launched on 12 December 1970 into an initial orbit of about 560 km apogee, 520 km...

1970-107A
24-04-1971 Scout B San Marco-3 1971-036A
15-11-1971 Scout B S-Cubed A 1971-096A
15-11-1972 Scout D-1 SAS-B
Second Small Astronomy Satellite
The Small Astronomy Satellite 2, also known also as SAS-2, SAS B or Explorer 48, was a NASA gamma ray telescope. It was launched on 15 November 1972 into low Earth orbit with a periapsis of 443 km and an apoapsis of 632 km...

1972-091A
18-02-1974 Scout D-1 San Marco-4 1974-009A
15-10-1974 Scout B-1 Ariel 5 1974-077A Satellite operations were directed from a control center at the Appleton Lab
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
The Rutherford Appleton Laboratory is one of the national scientific research laboratories in the UK operated by the Science and Technology Facilities Council . It is located on the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus at Chilton near Didcot in Oxfordshire, United Kingdom...

, U.K.
07-05-1975 Scout F-1 SAS-C
Third Small Astronomy Satellite
The Small Astronomy Satellite 3 was a NASA X-ray astronomy space telescope. It functioned from May 7, 1975 to April 1979. It covered the X-ray range with four experiments on board...

1975-037A
25-03-1988 Scout G-1 San Marco-D/L 1988-026A

See also

  • San Marco programme
    San Marco programme
    The San Marco programme was an Italian-US satellite launch programme conducted between the early 1960s and the late 1980s. The project resulted in the launch of the first Italian-built satellite, San Marco 1, on December 15, 1964. With this launch Italy became the third country in the world to...

  • Luigi Broglio
    Luigi Broglio
    Luigi Broglio , was an Italian aerospace engineer, airforce lieutenant colonel and dean of the school of aeronautical engineering at the University of Rome La Sapienza...

  • Scout
    Scout (rocket)
    The Scout family of rockets were launch vehicles designed to place small satellites into orbit around the Earth. The Scout multistage rocket was the first orbital launch vehicle to be entirely composed of solid fuel stages....

  • Italian Space Agency
    Italian Space Agency
    The Italian Space Agency is a government agency established in 1988 to fund, regulate and coordinate space exploration activities in Italy...

  • Sea Launch
    Sea Launch
    Sea Launch is a spacecraft launch service that uses a mobile sea platform for equatorial launches of commercial payloads on specialized Zenit 3SL rockets...


External links




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