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Scouts were solid fuel rockets used to
launch satellites. The National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA) began developing
the Scout in 1958 and NASA later took over the project. NASA conducted a test launch of
the Scout in July 1960. A Scout successfully launched Explorer 9 in February 1961. Scout
rockets had lifted off 118 times by the time NASA stopped using them in 1994. The rockets
launched small satellites, satellites for scientific use, military use or for countries
other than the United States. Aside from NASA's Wallops Island launch site and Vandenberg
Air Base, Scouts also took off from San Marco base, an Italian-made launch platform located
in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Kenya. NASA improved the rocket over the years,
upgrading its payload from an initial 60 kilograms to 208 kilograms. |
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