San Marco Platform
| Status | inactive |
|---|---|
| Country | Kenya |
| Launches by | Italy |
| Number of orbital launches | 9 |
| First launch | 1967-04-26 |
| Last launch | 1988-03-25 |
San Marco was a mobile launch platform located in the Indian Ocean, 5 kms off the coast of Kenya. It was used by Italy to launch Scout rockets built and provided by the US. A smaller platform, the Santa Rita, located 0.5 km from San Marco, had the control and operations center, range equipment and test rooms. The two platforms were connected by submarine control and power cables.
The platform was first used for the successful launch on April 26, 1967 of the Italian scientific satellite San Marco 2 in a cooperative international project with NASA. It also hosted the first launch of an American satellite (Explorer 42) from another country.
Launches by year:
Launches:
| Launch date | Launch site | Rocket / Variant | Payload | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988-03-25 | San Marco | Scout G | San Marco 5 | success |
| 1975-05-07 | San Marco | Scout F | Explorer 53 (SAS C) | success |
| 1974-10-15 | San Marco | Scout B1 | Ariel 5 (UK 5) | success |
| 1974-02-18 | San Marco | Scout D | San Marco 4 | success |
| 1972-11-15 | San Marco | Scout D | Explorer 48 (SAS B) | success |
| 1971-11-15 | San Marco | Scout B | Explorer 45 (SSS A) | success |
| 1971-04-24 | San Marco | Scout B | San Marco 3 | success |
| 1970-12-12 | San Marco | Scout B | Explorer 42 (SAS A, Uhuru) | success |
| 1967-04-26 | San Marco | Scout B | San Marco 2 | success |