Italian Space Agency (ASI) / Sapienza University of Rome (historical) · Offshore Malindi, Indian Ocean, Kenya, Kenya
Launch Pads
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Annual Launches
0
Max Payload (LEO)
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Established
1967
The San Marco platform was the world's first orbital launch site to operate from a sea platform, located off the Kenyan coast near Malindi at just 2.94°S — making it one of the most equatorially favorable launch sites ever used. Operated by Italy's Sapienza University of Rome under an agreement with Kenya, it conducted nine successful orbital launches of Scout solid-fuel rockets between 1967 and 1988, including international scientific payloads for NASA. The platform pioneered the sea-launch concept later revived commercially by Sea Launch (Odyssey) and SpaceX's autonomous droneships. Today the adjacent Luigi Broglio Space Centre (Broglio Malindi) operates only as a ground station for satellite tracking, not as a launch facility.
| Region | Africa |
| Country | 🇰🇪 Kenya |
| Coordinates | -2.9400° N, 40.2100° E |
| Ownership | International Consortium |
| Parent Entity | Italian Space Agency (ASI) — historical operator |
| Latitude Advantage | 2.94°S — historically one of the most equatorially favorable launch sites ever used; comparable to Alcântara and superior to Kourou |
| Website | https://www.asi.it/en/ |
Active Users
Strategic Value
Historical landmark — first sea-platform orbital launches and demonstrated the equatorial-platform model decades before Sea Launch. Heritage value only; site now operates as ground station via the adjacent Broglio Malindi facility.