San Marco 1
First Italian satellite / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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San Marco 1, also known as San Marco A, was the first Italian satellite. Built in-house by the Italian Space Research Commission (Italian: Commissione per le Ricerche Spaziali, CRS) on behalf of the National Research Council, it was the first of five as part of the Italian-US San Marco programme.
Quick Facts Mission type, Operator ...
Mission type | Ionospheric Earth science Astrophysics[1] |
---|---|
Operator | CNR |
COSPAR ID | 1964-084A |
SATCAT no. | 00957 |
Mission duration | ~272 days |
Spacecraft properties | |
Launch mass | 115.2 kilograms (254 lb)[1] |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | 15 December 1964, 20:24:00 (1964-12-15UTC20:24Z) UTC[1] |
Rocket | Scout X-4[2] |
Launch site | Wallops LA-3A |
End of mission | |
Decay date | 13 September 1965[1] |
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Geocentric |
Regime | Low Earth |
Eccentricity | 0.0469[1] |
Perigee altitude | 198.0 kilometres (123.0 mi)[1] |
Apogee altitude | 846.0 kilometres (525.7 mi)[1] |
Inclination | 37.80 degrees[1] |
Period | 94.9 minutes[1] |
Epoch | 15 December 1964 20:24:00 UTC |
Close
The name of the spacecraft series comes from the San Marco platform, a Jackup barge used as an offshore launch pad for the main phase of the project. San Marco (English: Saint Mark) is the patron saint of Venice, often depicted as aiding Venetian sailors.[3]