In 1963, with the withdrawal of the Jupiter missiles deployed in Italy and Turkey, the Italian Air Force’s experience with atomic warhead missiles came to an end. However, the vast wealth of knowledge acquired, combined with the competence, passion, and initiative of the General Inspector of Aeronautical Engineering, Prof. Luigi Broglio, laid the indispensable foundation for the launch of the San Marco 1 satellite from the U.S. base on Wallops Island.
Italy became the third nation in the world, following the USSR and the USA, to place its own artificial satellite into orbit. This was followed by the launch of the San Marco 2 from the San Marco platform in Kenya in 1967 and the San Marco 3 in 1971.
At the start of the new century, the Italian Air Force resumed its activity in the aerospace sector more actively. In 2001, it launched the SICRAL communication satellite, and in 2002, it participated in the Marco Polo mission, with experimental test pilot Roberto Vittori becoming the first Italian cosmonaut aboard a Russian spacecraft. This mission followed another involving experimental test pilot Maurizio Cheli, who flew aboard the shuttle Columbia STS-75 in 1996.
The Italian Air Force returned to space with two new protagonists: astronauts Samantha Cristoforetti, with the ‘Futura’ mission in 2014, and Luca Parmitano, with the ‘Volare’ and ‘Beyond’ missions. These missions marked a first by utilising new forms of ‘social’ communication to bring the space station into Italian households.
For further information, visit: www.amazon.it/aeronauticamilitare
