San Marco 2 was a 66-cm-diameter spherical satellite with two experiments, one designed to make direct measurements of air density below 350 km, and the other an ionospheric beacon experiment developed to observe electron content between the earth and the satellite.

The Scout family of rockets were were American launch vehicles designed to place small satellites into orbit around the Earth. The Scout multistage rocket was the first orbital launch vehicle to be entirely composed of solid fuel stages.

The Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR) or National Research Council, is the largest research council in Italy. As a public organisation, its remit is to support scientific and technological research. Its headquarters are in Rome.