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Italy as the launching State of the San Marco I

  • 6 June 2025
san marco 1 2 2
Satellite San Marco 1 2
lancio satellite 1

In 2024, social media and institutional initiatives celebrated the 60th anniversary of Italy’s first artificial satellite, San Marco I, which was successfully launched into orbit on December 15, 1964. The excitement surrounding this historic milestone has been truly palpable. The anniversary of the launch highlights the pioneering nature of the San Marco project, conceived by Professor Luigi Broglio and carried out between 1962 and 1980, as a bilateral cooperation initiative with the United States, focused on the conception, manufacturing, and launching of eight satellites developed by Sapienza University of Rome. This landmark result solidified Italy’s status as a key player in early space exploration, marking a significant chapter in the country’s scientific and technological history.

Sergio Marchisio has commemorated this achievement by examining some of its legal aspects, routinely overlooked. The article offers a critical assessment of Italy’s role in the early space race, highlighting San Marco I in the list of launches of the early Sixties, the key factors supporting Italy’s claim as the third country to launch a satellite into orbit, and strengthening its legal qualification as the launching State and State of registry. The broader discussion covers subsequent satellites in the San Marco programme and underscores Italy’s continuing contributions to space exploration from its Malindi base in Kenya. This enduring involvement highlights Italy’s early and sustained role in global space activities.

An extremely interesting case study!

Read and download the full article below!

Italy as the launching State of the San Marco I – Sergio MarchisioDownload

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