View source for Broglio Space Center

{{Short description|Italian spaceport off the Kenyan coast}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2014}}
{{Infobox launch pad
| name            = San Marco platform
| image           = San Marco launch platform.jpg
| caption         = The San Marco platform, with a [[Scout (rocket family)|Scout]] launch vehicle on the launch pad.
| image_size      = 300px

| site            = San Marco platform
| coordinates     = {{Coord|2|56|18|S|40|12|45|E|display=inline,title}}
| location        = [[Malindi]], [[Kenya]] 
| operator        = [[Italian Space Agency]]<br>(formerly [[Sapienza University of Rome]] and [[NASA]])

| tlaunches       = 27
| inclination     = 2.0–3.0°

| pads            = 2
| paddetails      = {{Infobox launch pad/pad
  | designation   = San Marco 
  | status        = Inactive
  | launches      = 24
  | first_launch  = 26 April 1967
  | first_details = [[Scout (rocket)|Scout B]]
  | last_launch   = 25 March 1988
  | last_details  = [[Scout (rocket)|Scout G-1]]
  | rockets       = {{unbulleted list|[[Scout (rocket family)|Scout]]|[[Nike-Apache]]|[[Nike (rocket stage)|Nike Tomahawk]]|[[TE-416 Tomahawk|Tomahawk]]|[[Arcas (rocket)|Arcas]]|[[Black Brant (rocket)|Black Brant]]|[[Astrobee]]}}
  }}
{{Infobox launch pad/pad <!--add one of these templates for each pad in the complex -->
  | designation   = Santa Rita
  | status        = Inactive
  | launches      = 3
  | first_launch  = 25 March 1964
  | first_details = [[Nike-Apache]]
  | last_launch   = 2 April 1964
  | last_details  = [[Nike-Apache]]
  | rockets       = [[Nike-Apache]]
  }}
}}

The '''Luigi Broglio Malindi Space Center''' ('''LBMSC''') located near [[Malindi]], [[Kenya]], is an [[Italian Space Agency]] (ASI) [[Spaceport]]. It was named after its founder and Italian space pioneer [[Luigi Broglio]].<ref name="cprsm">{{cite web
|title=The San Marco Project Research Centre|url=http://crpsm.psm.uniroma1.it/|publisher=Centro di Ricerca Progetto San Marco – University of Rome "La Sapienza"|access-date=23 August 2010}}</ref> Developed in the 1960s through a partnership between the [[Sapienza University of Rome]]'s Aerospace Research Centre and the [[NASA|National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)]], the BSC served as a spaceport for the launch of both Italian and international [[satellite]]s (1967–1988). The center comprises a main offshore launch site, known as the '''San Marco platform''', as well as two secondary control platforms and a communications [[Earth station|ground station]] on the mainland.  

In 2003, a legislative decree handed management of the center to [[Italian Space Agency|ASI]], beginning in 2004, and the name changed from the previous '''San Marco Equatorial Range'''.<ref name="CORDIS">{{cite web|title=Italian Space Agency|url=http://cordis.europa.eu/erawatch/index.cfm?fuseaction=org.documentAjax&uuid=7D87D669-A64C-090E-C0A5A26C010F99E1|publisher=European Commission – CORDIS (Community Research and Development Information Service)|access-date=23 August 2010|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130106155317/http://cordis.europa.eu/erawatch/index.cfm?fuseaction=org.documentAjax&uuid=7D87D669-A64C-090E-C0A5A26C010F99E1|archive-date=6 January 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="airuni">{{cite web|url=http://space.au.af.mil/primer/rest_of_world_launch.pdf|title=Space Primer – Chapter 20 – Rest-Of-World (ROW) Space Launch Systems|publisher=United States Air Force Air University|page=21|date=August 2003|access-date=23 August 2010|archive-date=22 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722180529/http://space.au.af.mil/primer/rest_of_world_launch.pdf|url-status=dead}} {{PD-notice}}</ref> While the ground station is still in use for satellite communications, the BSC is not currently used as a launch site.<ref name="malstat">{{cite web|url=http://www.esa.int/esaMI/Operations/SEMIIDUL05F_0.html|title=Malindi station|publisher=European Space Agency|access-date=23 August 2010}}</ref>

== History ==
The San Marco platform was a former oil platform, located to the north of Cape [[Ras Ngomeni]] on the coastal [[littoral|sublittoral]] of [[Kenya]], at {{Coord|2|56|18|S|40|12|45|E|}}, close to the [[equator]] (which is an energetically favourable location for 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 center's primary telemetry site.<ref name="airuni"/>

{{Location map+|Kenya|relief=1|width=200|float=left|caption=Location of the BSC, just south of the [[equator]] (represented by the nearby town of Nanyuki)|places=
{{Location map~|Kenya|lat=-2.938333|long=40.2125|marksize=6|position=right|label=Broglio Space Center}}
{{Location map~|Kenya|lat=-3.216667|long=40.11667|marksize=6|position=left|label=[[Malindi]]}}
{{Location map~|Kenya|lat=0.016667|long=37.066667|marksize=6|label=[[Nanyuki]]}}
{{Location map~|Kenya|lat=-1.283333|long=36.816667|marksize=6|label=[[Nairobi]]}}
}}

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]] 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]] 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 by [[Scout (rocket family)|Scout 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 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 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 Tomahawk]], [[Arcas (rocket)|Arcas]] and [[Black Brant (rocket)|Black Brant]] launchers. Low payload weight orbital launches were also made, using the [[solid-propellant]] [[Scout (rocket)|Scout]] rocket (in its B, D and G subvariants). The first satellite specifically for [[X-ray astronomy]], [[Uhuru (satellite)|Uhuru]], was launched from San Marco on a Scout B rocket on 12 December 1970.

The [[ground station]] is in use and continues to track [[Italian Space Agency|ASI]], [[ESA]] and [[NASA]] satellites, and Chinese crewed space missions.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.kenet.or.ke/sites/default/files/kenya_space_agency_presentation_08-12-17.pdf|title=The Kenya Space Agency Research Agenda|date=8 December 2017|publisher=Kenya Space Agency|author=John Njoroge Kimani}}</ref>

However, the two platforms fell into disrepair during the 1990s. Since then, ASI has conducted a feasibility study to reactivate it for the Russian [[Launch vehicle|launcher]] [[START-1]],{{Ref_label|a|a|none}} and given significant decreases in the cost of satellite launches in the 2020s<ref>{{Cite web |title=Space launch: An oversupply or a shortfall? {{!}} McKinsey |url=https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/aerospace-and-defense/our-insights/space-launch-are-we-heading-for-oversupply-or-a-shortfall |access-date=2024-10-18 |website=www.mckinsey.com}}</ref> may serve the space programs of several African nations as well.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Why there's a rush of African satellite launches |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gvnym0j0xo |access-date=2024-10-18 |website=www.bbc.com |language=en-GB}}</ref>

== Satellite launches ==
[[File:Lancio Ariel 5.jpg|thumb|[[Ariel 5]] launch from San Marco Platform]]
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Launch Date
! Vehicle
! Payload
! [[COSPAR ID]]
! Comments
|-
| 26 April 1967
| [[Scout B]]
| San Marco-2
| [https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1967-038A 1967-038A]
| [[San Marco 1]] had previously been launched from [[Wallops Flight Facility|Wallops]] in the [[United States]]
|-
| 12 December 1970
| [[Scout B]]
| [[Uhuru (satellite)|Uhuru (SAS-A)]]
| [https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1970-107A 1970-107A]
| 
|-
| 24 April 1971
| [[Scout B]]
| San Marco-3
| [https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1971-036A 1971-036A]
| 
|-
| 15 November 1971
| [[Scout B]]
| [[Explorer 45|Small Scientific Satellite-A]]
| [https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1971-096A 1971-096A]
|
|-
| 15 November 1972
| [[Scout D-1]]
| [[Small Astronomy Satellite 2|SAS-B]]
| [https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1972-091A 1972-091A]
|
|-
| 18 February 1974
| [[Scout D-1]]
| San Marco-4
| [https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1974-009A 1974-009A]
| 
|-
| 15 October 1974
| [[Scout B-1]]
| [[Ariel 5]]
| [https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1974-077A 1974-077A]
| Satellite operations were directed from a control center at the [[Rutherford Appleton Laboratory]], [[United Kingdom]]
|-
| 7 May 1975
| [[Scout F-1]]
| [[Small Astronomy Satellite 3|SAS-C]]
| [https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1975-037A 1975-037A]
| 
|-
| 25 March 1988
| [[Scout G-1]]
| San Marco-D/L
| [https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1988-026A 1988-026A]
| 
|}

== See also ==
{{Portal|Spaceflight}}

* [[San Marco programme]]
* [[Luigi Broglio]]
* [[Scout (rocket family)|Scout]]
* [[Italian Space Agency]]
* [[Sea Launch]]
*[[Kenya Space Agency]]

== Notes ==
{{Refbegin|30em}}

* '''a.''' {{Note_label|a|a|none}} "Nel Marzo 2004, una Delegazione ASI e una Delegazione Russa sono state in visita al Centro Spaziale Luigi Broglio di Malindi, in Kenya, per verificare le condizioni tecniche di riutilizzo della base di lancio, mediante lanciatori russi, di tipo START-1. Il risultato della visita è stato estremamente positivo e le Parti hanno concordato sulla fattibilità di lancio dalle piattaforme marine."

(''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.'')<ref name="pasn">{{cite web |url=http://www.asi.it/files/20061025030257PASN_2006-2008_1.pdf|title=Piano AeroSpaziale Nationale 2006–2008|publisher=Italian Space Agency|page=69|access-date=29 August 2010|language=it|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722025014/http://www.asi.it/files/20061025030257PASN_2006-2008_1.pdf|archive-date=22 July 2011}}</ref>

{{Refend}}

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20020829130626/http://astronautix.com/sites/sanmarco.htm San Marco platform at Astronautix]
* [http://crpsm.psm.uniroma1.it/ The San Marco Project Research Centre]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20061001195147/http://www.univ-perp.fr/fuseurop/sanma_e.htm  Information on the San Marco platform at Les Fusées en Europe] (information in English; dead link, Retrieved 9 October 2008 from [[Internet Archive]], last update in 2006)

{{Spaceport}}
{{Scout rockets}}

[[Category:Spaceports]]
[[Category:Sea launch to orbit]]
[[Category:Space program of Italy]]
[[Category:Malindi]]
[[Category:Transport buildings and structures in Kenya]]
[[Category:Transport infrastructure completed in 1964]]
[[Category:1964 establishments in Kenya]]
[[Category:Italy–Kenya relations]]