 The San Marco platform, with aScout launch vehicle on the launch pad. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Launch site | San Marco platform | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Location | Malindi,Kenya | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 2°56′18″S40°12′45″E / 2.93833°S 40.21250°E /-2.93833; 40.21250 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operator | Italian Space Agency (formerlySapienza University of Rome andNASA) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total launches | 27 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Launch pad(s) | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Orbital inclination range | 2.0–3.0° | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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TheLuigi Broglio Malindi Space Center (LBMSC) located nearMalindi,Kenya, is anItalian Space Agency (ASI)Spaceport. It was named after its founder and Italian space pioneerLuigi Broglio.[1] Developed in the 1960s through a partnership between theSapienza University of Rome's Aerospace Research Centre and theNational Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the BSC served as a spaceport for the launch of both Italian and internationalsatellites (1967–1988). The center comprises a main offshore launch site, known as theSan Marco platform, as well as two secondary control platforms and a communicationsground station on the mainland.
In 2003, a legislative decree handed management of the center toASI, beginning in 2004, and the name changed from the previousSan Marco Equatorial Range.[2][3] While the ground station is still in use for satellite communications, the BSC is not currently used as a launch site.[4]
The San Marco platform was a former oil platform, located to the north of CapeRas Ngomeni on the coastalsublittoral ofKenya, at2°56′18″S40°12′45″E / 2.93833°S 40.21250°E /-2.93833; 40.21250, close to theequator (which is an energetically favourable location for launches). Launches from the platform were controlled from theSanta Rita platform, a second former oil platform located southeast of the San Marco platform, and a smallerSanta Rita II housed the facility's radar. A ground station located on the cape forms the center's primary telemetry site.[3]
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 amemorandum of understanding with NASA to collaborate on a space research program namedSan Marco (St. Mark). The Italian launch team, trained by NASA, was to first launch a rocket fromWallops Island under NASA supervision and first launch successfully took off on 15 December 1964. The San Marco project was focused on the launching of scientific satellites byScout launch vehicles 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 ofMalindi.
The program schedule included three phases:
The San Marco launch platform complex was in use from March 1964 to March 1988, with a total of 27 launches, primarilysounding rockets including theNike Apache,Nike Tomahawk,Arcas andBlack Brant launchers. Low payload weight orbital launches were also made, using thesolid-propellantScout rocket (in its B, D and G subvariants). The first satellite specifically forX-ray astronomy,Uhuru, was launched from San Marco on a Scout B rocket on 12 December 1970.
Theground station is in use and continues to trackASI,ESA andNASA satellites, and Chinese crewed space missions.[5]
However, the two platforms fell into disrepair during the 1990s. Since then, ASI has conducted a feasibility study to reactivate it for the RussianlauncherSTART-1,[a] and given significant decreases in the cost of satellite launches in the 2020s[6] may serve the space programs of several African nations as well.[7]
| Launch Date | Vehicle | Payload | COSPAR ID | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 April 1967 | Scout B | San Marco-2 | 1967-038A | San Marco 1 had previously been launched fromWallops in theUnited States |
| 12 December 1970 | Scout B | Uhuru (SAS-A) | 1970-107A | |
| 24 April 1971 | Scout B | San Marco-3 | 1971-036A | |
| 15 November 1971 | Scout B | Small Scientific Satellite-A | 1971-096A | |
| 15 November 1972 | Scout D-1 | SAS-B | 1972-091A | |
| 18 February 1974 | Scout D-1 | San Marco-4 | 1974-009A | |
| 15 October 1974 | Scout B-1 | Ariel 5 | 1974-077A | Satellite operations were directed from a control center at theRutherford Appleton Laboratory,United Kingdom |
| 7 May 1975 | Scout F-1 | SAS-C | 1975-037A | |
| 25 March 1988 | Scout G-1 | San Marco-D/L | 1988-026A |
(In March 2004, a delegation from ASI and a Russian delegation went to visit the Luigi Broglio Space Center in Malindi, Kenya, to verify the technical conditions of re-use of the launch site for use by Russian launchers of the type START-1. The result of the visit has been extremely positive and both parties have agreed on the feasibility of launching from the marine platform.)[8]
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.Scout rockets | |||||||||||
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