Prime prove italiane di conquista dello spazio: aspetti tecnici e politici internazionali (1950-1961)

Abstract

The launch into orbit of the first artificial satellite, Sputnik I, in 1957, represents a turning point in human history. From that moment on, Russia declared the competition with the United States open, and this particular period, now generally known as the “Space Race”, demonstrates how a new element like Outer Space, could make huge changes in the classic dynamics of state relations. The Space Race was truly the most spectacular aspect of the Cold War. Because of the great “spectacle” that followed the first satellites launches, the first experiences with living beings on board, until the human exploration of space, the race between the US and the USSR, is something relatively known. Less known, on the contrary, is the role of the third country in the world, after the US and USSR to launch its own satellite into orbit; Italy. The San Marco Project, planned by his founding father, Prof. Lieut. Luigi Broglio, marked the beginning and the earliest development of Italian space activities. The Paper deals with the first years of the San Marco Project history, from the birth of the idea,to the first tests, introducing the relevant role of the Italian physicist Edoardo Amaldi, and reconstructing the facts before the launch of the first Italian Satellite in 1964.