An Italian-run space centre located in Kenya will once again host rocket launches from an offshore launch platform.
Italy built the Luigi Broglio Space Center near Malindi, Kenya, in the 1960s. In addition to providing ground services for space missions, which it continues to do, the facility also included a launch capability from the San Marco platform. On 26 April 1967, the facility hosted its inaugural orbital launch attempt, with a Scout B rocket delivering the San Marco-2 satellite into low Earth orbit. The final flight was launched from the facility in March 1988.
In late 2023, the Minister of Enterprise and Made in Italy, Adolfo Urso, first proposed reopening the facility for rocket launches. While unsubstantiated by other sources, local publication MalindiKenya.net reported at the time that the move would be used to create an “ideal launch base for the Italian Vega launcher, thus avoiding paying France for the use of the French Guiana base.”
In October 2024, during a presentation just before the 75th International Astronautical Congress kicked off, Minister Urso explained that the country had decided to move ahead with its plans to once again launch rockets from the Luigi Broglio Space Center.
“The idea is to give a new, more ambitious mission to this base and use it for the launch of low-orbit microsatellites,” said Minister Urso.
The effort to once again launch rockets from the facility will be managed under the country’s Mattei Plan. The Mattei Plan is an initiative aimed at fostering stronger economic partnerships with African nations by investing in renewable energy, infrastructure, and sustainable development.
In 2017, Kenya established a national space agency to promote and regulate space-related activities. In November 2021, the country began work on a suite of legislation called the Kenya Space Bill 2024. The bill gives the Kenya Space Agency the manage to establish, approve, or lease launch sites within the Republic of Kenya. The final draft of the bill is expected to be submitted to the country’s Attorney General for review before being presented to the National Assembly.
