San Marco platform

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The San Marco Launch Platform, with a Scout rocket on the launchpad

The San Marco platform is a floating spaceport that was developed by a partnership between the Centro Ricerche Aerospaziali at the University of Rome La Sapienza and NASA to serve as a launch pad for Italian spacecraft. It was a former oil platform, sited to the north of Ras Ngomeni on the coastal sublittoral of Kenya, at [2°56′18″S, 40°12′45″E], and was close to the equator (which is an energetically favourable location for rocket launches). Launches from the platform were controlled from San Rita, a second former oil platform located to San Marco's south-east.

The Italian space research program was launched in 1959 with the creation of the CRA (Centro Ricerche Aerospaziali) in the Rome university. Three years later, on 7 September 1962, this university signed with NASA a memorandum of understanding in order to collaborate on a space research program baptized San Marco. The Italian launch team, trained by NASA, was to first launch a rocket from Wallop Island, under NASA supervision. This first launch successfully took off on 16 December 1964.

The San Marco project aimed at the launching of scientific satellites by Scout rockets, from a floating mobile station located close to the equator. This station, composed of two oil platforms and two logistical support boats, was to be installed off Kenya coasts, close to the town of Malindi.

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 launch platform was in use from March 1964 to March 1988, with a total of 27 launchs, primarily regarding sounding rockets including the Nike Apache, Nike Tomahawk, Arcas and Black Brant launchers. Low payload weight orbital launches were also made, using the solid-propellant Scout rocket (in its B, D and G subvariants). The first satellite specifically for X-ray astronomy, Uhuru, 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, ESA and Italian satellites. The platforms fell into disuse in the 1990s; it is in efficient conditions (Italian Space Agency spokesman said).

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