SXB3

ASI / SNPE

On march 19, 1992 at the Salto di Quirra weapons testing range on Sardinia, a test-vehicle named SXB3 was launched consisting of a modified PAP P9.5 solid-fulled strap-on booster with two dummy side boosters.

It was part of the Italian San Marco Project, led by the Sapienza University of Rome's Centro Ricerche Aerospaziali, which previously used US Scout rockets to launch satellites from the San Marco platform off the coast of Kenya.

The test flight would have led to the launch of the new San Marco Scout, using four Ariane 4 PAP P9.5s as side-boosters and as a first stage, but the launch never happened. Instead, focus was shifted to the development of the Vega launcher.