Spaceport
Encyclopedia
Spacecraft
A spacecraft or spaceship is a craft or machine designed for spaceflight. Spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, earth observation, meteorology, navigation, planetary exploration and transportation of humans and cargo....
, by analogy with seaport for ships or airport for aircraft. The word spaceport, and even more so cosmodrome, has traditionally been used for sites capable of launching spacecraft into orbit
Orbital spaceflight
An orbital spaceflight is a spaceflight in which a spacecraft is placed on a trajectory where it could remain in space for at least one orbit. To do this around the Earth, it must be on a free trajectory which has an altitude at perigee above...
around Earth or on interplanetary trajectories. However, rocket launch sites for purely sub-orbital flights
Sub-orbital spaceflight
A sub-orbital space flight is a spaceflight in which the spacecraft reaches space, but its trajectory intersects the atmosphere or surface of the gravitating body from which it was launched, so that it does not complete one orbital revolution....
are sometimes called spaceports. In recent years new and proposed sites for suborbital human flights have commonly been named spaceports. Space station
Space station
A space station is a spacecraft capable of supporting a crew which is designed to remain in space for an extended period of time, and to which other spacecraft can dock. A space station is distinguished from other spacecraft used for human spaceflight by its lack of major propulsion or landing...
s are sometimes called spaceports, in particular if intended as a base for further journeys.
The term rocket launch site is used for any facility from which rockets are launched. It may contain one or more launch pad
Launch pad
A launch pad is the area and facilities where rockets or spacecraft lift off. A spaceport can contain one or many launch pads. A typical launch pad consists of the service and umbilical structures. The service structure provides an access platform to inspect the launch vehicle prior to launch....
s or suitable sites to mount a transportable launch pad. It is surrounded with large safety area named rocket range or missile range. The range includes the area over which launched rockets are expected to fly, and within which some components of the rockets may land. Tracking stations, vessels, and aircraft are often located in the range to assess the progress of the launches.
Major spaceports often include more than one launch complex, which can be well-separated (for safety reasons) rocket launch sites adapted for different types of launch vehicle
Launch vehicle
In spaceflight, a launch vehicle or carrier rocket is a rocket used to carry a payload from the Earth's surface into outer space. A launch system includes the launch vehicle, the launch pad and other infrastructure....
s. For launch vehicles with liquid propellant, suitable storage facilities and, in some cases, production facilities are necessary. On-site processing facilities for solid propellants are also common.
A spaceport can also include runway
Runway
According to ICAO a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and take-off of aircraft." Runways may be a man-made surface or a natural surface .- Orientation and dimensions :Runways are named by a number between 01 and 36, which is generally one tenth...
s for takeoff and landing of spacecraft equipped with wings.
History
The first rocketRocket
A rocket is a missile, spacecraft, aircraft or other vehicle which obtains thrust from a rocket engine. In all rockets, the exhaust is formed entirely from propellants carried within the rocket before use. Rocket engines work by action and reaction...
s to reach space were V-2 rocket
V-2 rocket
The V-2 rocket , technical name Aggregat-4 , was a ballistic missile that was developed at the beginning of the Second World War in Germany, specifically targeted at London and later Antwerp. The liquid-propellant rocket was the world's first long-range combat-ballistic missile and first known...
s launched from Peenemünde
Peenemünde
The Peenemünde Army Research Center was founded in 1937 as one of five military proving grounds under the Army Weapons Office ....
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The V-2 rockets had a maximum altitude of approximately 60 miles/100 kilometers.
The world’s first spaceport for orbital and human launches, the Baikonur Cosmodrome
Baikonur Cosmodrome
The Baikonur Cosmodrome , also called Tyuratam, is the world's first and largest operational space launch facility. It is located in the desert steppe of Kazakhstan, about east of the Aral Sea, north of the Syr Darya river, near Tyuratam railway station, at 90 meters above sea level...
in southern Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
, started as a Soviet military rocket range in 1955. It achieved the first orbital flight (Sputnik 1
Sputnik 1
Sputnik 1 ) was the first artificial satellite to be put into Earth's orbit. It was launched into an elliptical low Earth orbit by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957. The unanticipated announcement of Sputnik 1s success precipitated the Sputnik crisis in the United States and ignited the Space...
) in October 1957. The exact location of the cosmodrome was initially held secret. Guesses to its location were misdirected by a name in common with a mining town 320 km away. The position became known in 1957 outside the Soviet Union only after U-2
Lockheed U-2
The Lockheed U-2, nicknamed "Dragon Lady", is a single-engine, very high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft operated by the United States Air Force and previously flown by the Central Intelligence Agency . It provides day and night, very high-altitude , all-weather intelligence gathering...
planes had identified the site by following railway lines in Kazakhstan, although Soviet authorities did not confirm the location for decades.
The Baikonur Cosmodrome achieved the first launch of a human into space (Yuri Gagarin
Yuri Gagarin
Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin was a Soviet pilot and cosmonaut. He was the first human to journey into outer space, when his Vostok spacecraft completed an orbit of the Earth on April 12, 1961....
) in 1961. The launch complex used, Site 1, has reached a special symbolic significance and is commonly called Gagarin's Start
Gagarin's Start
Gagarin's Start is a launch site at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, used for the Soviet space program and now managed by the Russian Federal Space Agency....
. Baikonur was the primary Soviet cosmodrome, and is still widely used by Russia under a lease arrangement with Kazakhstan.
In response to the early Soviet successes, the United States built up a major spaceport complex at Cape Canaveral in Florida. A large number of unmanned flights, as well as the early human flights, were carried out at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station is an installation of the United States Air Force Space Command's 45th Space Wing, headquartered at nearby Patrick Air Force Base. Located on Cape Canaveral in the state of Florida, CCAFS is the primary launch head of America's Eastern Range with four launch pads...
. For the Apollo programme, an adjacent spaceport, Kennedy Space Center
Kennedy Space Center
The John F. Kennedy Space Center is the NASA installation that has been the launch site for every United States human space flight since 1968. Although such flights are currently on hiatus, KSC continues to manage and operate unmanned rocket launch facilities for America's civilian space program...
, was constructed, and achieved the first manned mission to the lunar surface (Apollo 11
Apollo 11
In early 1969, Bill Anders accepted a job with the National Space Council effective in August 1969 and announced his retirement as an astronaut. At that point Ken Mattingly was moved from the support crew into parallel training with Anders as backup Command Module Pilot in case Apollo 11 was...
) in July 1969. It has been the base for all Space Shuttle
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...
launches and most of their runway landings. For details on the launch complexes of the two spaceports, see List of Cape Canaveral and Merritt Island launch sites.
The Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana, is the major European spaceport, with satellite launches that benefit from the location 4 degrees north of the equator.
In October 2003 the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center
Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center
Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center is a People's Republic of China space vehicle launch facility .The facility is part of Dongfeng Aerospace City , and is located in the Gobi desert, Ejin Banner , Alxa League , Inner Mongolia, situated about 1,600 km from Beijing.- History :It was founded in 1958,...
achieved the first Chinese human spaceflight.
Breaking with tradition, in June 2004 on a runway at Mojave Spaceport
Mojave Spaceport
thumb|right|235px|A retired [[Boeing 767-200]] that flew for [[Ansett Australia]] being cut open for scrap at Mojave AirportThe Mojave Air and Space Port , also known as the Civilian Aerospace Test Center, is located in Mojave, California, at an elevation of...
, California, a human was for the first time launched to space in a privately
Private spaceflight
Private spaceflight is flight above Earth altitude conducted by and paid for by an entity other than a government. In the early decades of the Space Age, the government space agencies of the Soviet Union and United States pioneered space technology augmented by collaboration with affiliated design...
funded, suborbital spaceflight, that was intended to pave the way for future commercial spaceflights. The spacecraft, SpaceShipOne, was launched by a carrier airplane taking off horizontally.
Placement considerations
Rockets can most easily reach satellite orbits if launched near the equatorEquator
An equator is the intersection of a sphere's surface with the plane perpendicular to the sphere's axis of rotation and containing the sphere's center of mass....
in an easterly direction, as this maximizes use of the Earth's rotational speed (465 m/s). Such launches also give a good orientation for arriving at a geostationary orbit
Geostationary orbit
A geostationary orbit is a geosynchronous orbit directly above the Earth's equator , with a period equal to the Earth's rotational period and an orbital eccentricity of approximately zero. An object in a geostationary orbit appears motionless, at a fixed position in the sky, to ground observers...
. For polar orbit
Polar orbit
A polar orbit is an orbit in which a satellite passes above or nearly above both poles of the body being orbited on each revolution. It therefore has an inclination of 90 degrees to the equator...
s and Molniya orbit
Molniya orbit
Molniya orbit is a type of highly elliptical orbit with an inclination of 63.4 degrees, an argument of perigee of -90 degree and an orbital period of one half of a sidereal day...
s this does not apply.
Altitude of the launch site is not a driving factor because most of the delta-v
Delta-v
In astrodynamics a Δv or delta-v is a scalar which takes units of speed. It is a measure of the amount of "effort" that is needed to change from one trajectory to another by making an orbital maneuver....
for a satellite launch is spent on achieving the required horizontal orbital speed
Orbital speed
The orbital speed of a body, generally a planet, a natural satellite, an artificial satellite, or a multiple star, is the speed at which it orbits around the barycenter of a system, usually around a more massive body...
. The small gains from a few kilometers of extra altitude at the start does not usually off-set the ground transport problems in mountainous terrain.
Many spaceports have been placed at existing military installations, such as intercontinental ballistic missile
Intercontinental ballistic missile
An intercontinental ballistic missile is a ballistic missile with a long range typically designed for nuclear weapons delivery...
ranges, which is not always ideal for satellite launches.
A rocket launch site is built as far as possible away from major population centers in order to mitigate risk to bystanders should a rocket experience a catastrophic failure. In many cases a launch site is built close to major bodies of water to ensure that no components are shed over populated areas. Typically a spaceport site is large enough that, should a vehicle explode, it will not endanger human lives or adjacent launch pads.
Planned sites of spaceports for sub-orbital
Sub-orbital spaceflight
A sub-orbital space flight is a spaceflight in which the spacecraft reaches space, but its trajectory intersects the atmosphere or surface of the gravitating body from which it was launched, so that it does not complete one orbital revolution....
tourist spaceflight often make use of existing ground infrastructure, including runways. The nature of the local view from 100 km altitude is also a factor to consider.
Space tourism
The space tourismSpace tourism
Space Tourism is space travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. A number of startup companies have sprung up in recent years, hoping to create a space tourism industry...
industry (see List of private spaceflight companies) is being targeted by spaceports in numerous locations worldwide. The establishment of spaceports for tourist trips raises legal issues, which are only beginning to be addressed.
Spaceports with achieved launches of humans
The following is a table of spaceports and launch complexes with a documented achieved launch of humans to space (more than 100 km altitude). Spaceports that have only achieved human sub-orbital flights are listed at the end. Otherwise the sorting order is spaceport by spaceport according to the time of the first human launch.| Spaceport | Launch complex | Launcher | Spacecraft | Flights | Years | Operation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baikonur Cosmodrome Baikonur Cosmodrome The Baikonur Cosmodrome , also called Tyuratam, is the world's first and largest operational space launch facility. It is located in the desert steppe of Kazakhstan, about east of the Aral Sea, north of the Syr Darya river, near Tyuratam railway station, at 90 meters above sea level... , Kazakhstan |
Site 1 Gagarin's Start Gagarin's Start is a launch site at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, used for the Soviet space program and now managed by the Russian Federal Space Agency.... |
Vostok (rocket) | Vostok Vostok spacecraft The Vostok was a type of spacecraft built by the Soviet Union. The first human spaceflight in history was accomplished on this spacecraft on April 12, 1961, by Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin.... 1-6 |
6 Orbital Orbital spaceflight An orbital spaceflight is a spaceflight in which a spacecraft is placed on a trajectory where it could remain in space for at least one orbit. To do this around the Earth, it must be on a free trajectory which has an altitude at perigee above... |
1961–1963 | Governmental |
| Site 1 Gagarin's Start Gagarin's Start is a launch site at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, used for the Soviet space program and now managed by the Russian Federal Space Agency.... |
Voskhod (rocket) | Voskhod Voskhod spacecraft The Voskhod was a spacecraft built by the Soviet Union's space program for human spaceflight as part of the Voskhod programme. It was a development of and a follow-on to the Vostok spacecraft... 1-2 |
2 Orbital Orbital spaceflight An orbital spaceflight is a spaceflight in which a spacecraft is placed on a trajectory where it could remain in space for at least one orbit. To do this around the Earth, it must be on a free trajectory which has an altitude at perigee above... |
1964–1965 | Governmental | |
| Site 1 Gagarin's Start Gagarin's Start is a launch site at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, used for the Soviet space program and now managed by the Russian Federal Space Agency.... , Site 31 |
Soyuz (rocket) | Soyuz 1-40 † | 37 Orbital Orbital spaceflight An orbital spaceflight is a spaceflight in which a spacecraft is placed on a trajectory where it could remain in space for at least one orbit. To do this around the Earth, it must be on a free trajectory which has an altitude at perigee above... |
1967–1981 | Governmental | |
| Site 1 Gagarin's Start Gagarin's Start is a launch site at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, used for the Soviet space program and now managed by the Russian Federal Space Agency.... , Site 31 |
Soyuz (rocket) | Soyuz-T Soyuz-T The Soyuz-T spacecraft was the third generation Soyuz spacecraft, in service for seven years from 1979 to 1986. The T stood for transport... 2-15 |
14 Orbital Orbital spaceflight An orbital spaceflight is a spaceflight in which a spacecraft is placed on a trajectory where it could remain in space for at least one orbit. To do this around the Earth, it must be on a free trajectory which has an altitude at perigee above... |
1980–1986 | Governmental | |
| Site 1 Gagarin's Start Gagarin's Start is a launch site at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, used for the Soviet space program and now managed by the Russian Federal Space Agency.... |
Soyuz (rocket) | Soyuz-TM Soyuz-TM The Soyuz-TM crew transports were fourth generation Soyuz spacecraft used for ferry flights to the Mir and ISS space stations... 2-34 |
33 Orbital Orbital spaceflight An orbital spaceflight is a spaceflight in which a spacecraft is placed on a trajectory where it could remain in space for at least one orbit. To do this around the Earth, it must be on a free trajectory which has an altitude at perigee above... |
1987–2002 | Governmental | |
| Site 1 Gagarin's Start Gagarin's Start is a launch site at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, used for the Soviet space program and now managed by the Russian Federal Space Agency.... |
Soyuz (rocket) | Soyuz-TMA Soyuz-TMA The Soyuz-TMA is a recent revision of the Soyuz spacecraft, superseded in 2010 by the Soyuz TMA-M..It is used by the Russian Federal Space Agency for human spaceflight... 1-21 |
21 Orbital Orbital spaceflight An orbital spaceflight is a spaceflight in which a spacecraft is placed on a trajectory where it could remain in space for at least one orbit. To do this around the Earth, it must be on a free trajectory which has an altitude at perigee above... |
2002- | Governmental | |
| Site 1 Gagarin's Start Gagarin's Start is a launch site at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, used for the Soviet space program and now managed by the Russian Federal Space Agency.... |
Soyuz (rocket) | Soyuz TMA-M 1-2 | 2 Orbital Orbital spaceflight An orbital spaceflight is a spaceflight in which a spacecraft is placed on a trajectory where it could remain in space for at least one orbit. To do this around the Earth, it must be on a free trajectory which has an altitude at perigee above... |
2010- | Governmental | |
| Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Cape Canaveral Air Force Station is an installation of the United States Air Force Space Command's 45th Space Wing, headquartered at nearby Patrick Air Force Base. Located on Cape Canaveral in the state of Florida, CCAFS is the primary launch head of America's Eastern Range with four launch pads... , Florida Florida Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it... (US) |
LC5 Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 5 Launch Complex 5 was a launch site at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida used for various Redstone and Jupiter launches.It is most well known as the launch site for NASA's 1961 suborbital Mercury-Redstone 3 flight, which made Alan Shepard the first American in space. It was also the launch... |
Redstone Redstone (rocket family) The Redstone family of rockets consisted of a number of American ballistic missiles, sounding rockets and expendable launch vehicles operational during the 1950s and 60s. The first member of the family was the PGM-11 Redstone missile, from which all other members were derived. The first large U.S... |
Mercury Project Mercury In January 1960 NASA awarded Western Electric Company a contract for the Mercury tracking network. The value of the contract was over $33 million. Also in January, McDonnell delivered the first production-type Mercury spacecraft, less than a year after award of the formal contract. On February 12,... 3-4 |
2 Sub-O Sub-orbital spaceflight A sub-orbital space flight is a spaceflight in which the spacecraft reaches space, but its trajectory intersects the atmosphere or surface of the gravitating body from which it was launched, so that it does not complete one orbital revolution.... |
1961-1961 | Governmental |
| LC14 Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 14 Launch Complex 14 is a launch site at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. LC-14 was used for various manned and unmanned Atlas launches, including the Friendship 7 flight aboard which John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth.... |
Atlas Atlas (rocket family) Atlas is a family of U.S. space launch vehicles. The original Atlas missile was designed in the late 1950s and produced by the Convair Division of General Dynamics, to be used as an intercontinental ballistic missile... |
Mercury Project Mercury In January 1960 NASA awarded Western Electric Company a contract for the Mercury tracking network. The value of the contract was over $33 million. Also in January, McDonnell delivered the first production-type Mercury spacecraft, less than a year after award of the formal contract. On February 12,... 6-9 |
4 Orbital Orbital spaceflight An orbital spaceflight is a spaceflight in which a spacecraft is placed on a trajectory where it could remain in space for at least one orbit. To do this around the Earth, it must be on a free trajectory which has an altitude at perigee above... |
1962–1963 | Governmental | |
| LC19 Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 19 Launch Complex 19 is a deactivated launch site on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida used by NASA to launch all of the Gemini manned spaceflights. It was also used by unmanned Titan I and Titan II launch vehicles.... |
Titan II Titan II GLV The Titan II GLV or Gemini-Titan was an American expendable launch system derived from the Titan II missile, which was used to launch twelve Gemini missions for NASA between 1964 and 1966... |
Gemini Project Gemini Project Gemini was the second human spaceflight program of NASA, the civilian space agency of the United States government. Project Gemini was conducted between projects Mercury and Apollo, with ten manned flights occurring in 1965 and 1966.... 3-12 |
10 Orbital Orbital spaceflight An orbital spaceflight is a spaceflight in which a spacecraft is placed on a trajectory where it could remain in space for at least one orbit. To do this around the Earth, it must be on a free trajectory which has an altitude at perigee above... |
1965–1966 | Governmental | |
| LC34 Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 34 Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 34 is a launch site on Cape Canaveral, Florida. LC-34 and its twin to the north, LC-37, were used by NASA as part of the Apollo Program to launch Saturn I and IB rockets from 1961 through 1968... |
Saturn IB Saturn IB The Saturn IB was an American launch vehicle commissioned by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for use in the Apollo program... |
Apollo 7 | 1 Orbital Orbital spaceflight An orbital spaceflight is a spaceflight in which a spacecraft is placed on a trajectory where it could remain in space for at least one orbit. To do this around the Earth, it must be on a free trajectory which has an altitude at perigee above... |
1968-1968 | Governmental | |
| Kennedy Space Center Kennedy Space Center The John F. Kennedy Space Center is the NASA installation that has been the launch site for every United States human space flight since 1968. Although such flights are currently on hiatus, KSC continues to manage and operate unmanned rocket launch facilities for America's civilian space program... , Florida Florida Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it... (US) |
LC39 Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39 Launch Complex 39 is a rocket launch site at the John F. Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island in Florida, USA. The site and its collection of facilities were originally built for the Apollo program, and later modified to support Space Shuttle operations. NASA began modifying LC-39 in 2007 to... |
Saturn V Saturn V The Saturn V was an American human-rated expendable rocket used by NASA's Apollo and Skylab programs from 1967 until 1973. A multistage liquid-fueled launch vehicle, NASA launched 13 Saturn Vs from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida with no loss of crew or payload... |
Apollo 8-17 | 10 Lun Moon The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more... /Or Orbital spaceflight An orbital spaceflight is a spaceflight in which a spacecraft is placed on a trajectory where it could remain in space for at least one orbit. To do this around the Earth, it must be on a free trajectory which has an altitude at perigee above... |
1968–1970 | Governmental |
| LC39 Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39 Launch Complex 39 is a rocket launch site at the John F. Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island in Florida, USA. The site and its collection of facilities were originally built for the Apollo program, and later modified to support Space Shuttle operations. NASA began modifying LC-39 in 2007 to... |
Saturn IB Saturn IB The Saturn IB was an American launch vehicle commissioned by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for use in the Apollo program... |
Skylab Skylab Skylab was a space station launched and operated by NASA, the space agency of the United States. Skylab orbited the Earth from 1973 to 1979, and included a workshop, a solar observatory, and other systems. It was launched unmanned by a modified Saturn V rocket, with a mass of... 2-4 |
3 Orbital Orbital spaceflight An orbital spaceflight is a spaceflight in which a spacecraft is placed on a trajectory where it could remain in space for at least one orbit. To do this around the Earth, it must be on a free trajectory which has an altitude at perigee above... |
1973–1974 | Governmental | |
| LC39 Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39 Launch Complex 39 is a rocket launch site at the John F. Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island in Florida, USA. The site and its collection of facilities were originally built for the Apollo program, and later modified to support Space Shuttle operations. NASA began modifying LC-39 in 2007 to... |
Saturn IB Saturn IB The Saturn IB was an American launch vehicle commissioned by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for use in the Apollo program... |
Apollo-Soyuz | 1 Orbital Orbital spaceflight An orbital spaceflight is a spaceflight in which a spacecraft is placed on a trajectory where it could remain in space for at least one orbit. To do this around the Earth, it must be on a free trajectory which has an altitude at perigee above... |
1975-1975 | Governmental | |
| LC39 Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39 Launch Complex 39 is a rocket launch site at the John F. Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island in Florida, USA. The site and its collection of facilities were originally built for the Apollo program, and later modified to support Space Shuttle operations. NASA began modifying LC-39 in 2007 to... |
STS Space Shuttle program NASA's Space Shuttle program, officially called Space Transportation System , was the United States government's manned launch vehicle program from 1981 to 2011... 1-135 ‡ |
Space Shuttle Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons... |
134 Orbital Orbital spaceflight An orbital spaceflight is a spaceflight in which a spacecraft is placed on a trajectory where it could remain in space for at least one orbit. To do this around the Earth, it must be on a free trajectory which has an altitude at perigee above... |
1981-2011 | Governmental | |
| Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center is a People's Republic of China space vehicle launch facility .The facility is part of Dongfeng Aerospace City , and is located in the Gobi desert, Ejin Banner , Alxa League , Inner Mongolia, situated about 1,600 km from Beijing.- History :It was founded in 1958,... , China |
Area 4 Jiuquan Launch Area 4 Launch Area 4 , also known as the South Launch Site or SLS, is the only active Long March launch complex at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre. It consists of two launch pads; SLS-1 and SLS-2. SLS-1 has been the launch site for all missions conducted as part of the Shenzhou programme, including... (SLS) |
Long March 2F Long March 2F The Long March 2F , also known as the CZ-2F, LM-2F and Shenjian, is a Chinese manned orbital carrier rocket, part of the Long March rocket family. Designed to launch manned Shenzhou spacecraft, the Long March 2F is a man-rated two-stage version of the Long March 2E rocket, which in turn was based... |
Shenzhou Shenzhou spacecraft Shenzhou is a spacecraft developed and operated by the People's Republic of China to support its manned spaceflight program. The name is variously translated as "Divine Craft," "Divine Vessel of God," "Magic Boat" or similar and is also homophonous with an ancient name for China... 5-7 |
3 Orbital Orbital spaceflight An orbital spaceflight is a spaceflight in which a spacecraft is placed on a trajectory where it could remain in space for at least one orbit. To do this around the Earth, it must be on a free trajectory which has an altitude at perigee above... |
2003- | Governmental |
| Edwards Air Force Base Edwards Air Force Base Edwards Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located on the border of Kern County, Los Angeles County, and San Bernardino County, California, in the Antelope Valley. It is southwest of the central business district of North Edwards, California and due east of Rosamond.It is named in... , California California California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area... (US) |
Runway | B-52 | X-15 North American X-15 The North American X-15 rocket-powered aircraft/spaceplane was part of the X-series of experimental aircraft, initiated with the Bell X-1, that were made for the USAAF/USAF, NACA/NASA, and the USN. The X-15 set speed and altitude records in the early 1960s, reaching the edge of outer space and... 90-91 |
2 Sub-O Sub-orbital spaceflight A sub-orbital space flight is a spaceflight in which the spacecraft reaches space, but its trajectory intersects the atmosphere or surface of the gravitating body from which it was launched, so that it does not complete one orbital revolution.... |
1963-1963 | Governmental |
| Mojave Spaceport, California California California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area... (US) |
Runway | White Knight | SpaceShipOne 15-17 | 3 Sub-O Sub-orbital spaceflight A sub-orbital space flight is a spaceflight in which the spacecraft reaches space, but its trajectory intersects the atmosphere or surface of the gravitating body from which it was launched, so that it does not complete one orbital revolution.... |
2004-2004 | Private |
† Three of the Soyuz missions were unmanned and are not counted (Soyuz 2
Soyuz 2
Soyuz 2 was an unpiloted spacecraft in the Soyuz family intended to perform a docking maneuver with Soyuz 3. Although the two craft approached closely, the docking did not take place.-Other uses of name:...
, Soyuz 20
Soyuz 20
Soyuz 20 was an unmanned spacecraft launched by the Soviet Union. It was a long-duration test of the Soyuz spacecraft that docked with the Salyut 4 space station. Soyuz 20 performed comprehensive checking of improved on-board systems of the spacecraft under various flight conditions. It also...
, Soyuz 34
Soyuz 34
Soyuz 34 was a 1979 Soviet unmanned space flight to the Salyut 6 space station. It was sent to supply the resident crew a reliable return vehicle after the previous flight, Soyuz 33, suffered an engine failure....
).
‡ STS-51-L
STS-51-L
STS-51-L was the twenty-fifth flight of the American Space Shuttle program, which marked the first time an ordinary civilian, schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe, had flown aboard the Space Shuttle. The mission used Space Shuttle Challenger, which lifted off from the Launch Complex 39-B on 28 January...
(Challenger
Space Shuttle Challenger disaster
The Space Shuttle Challenger disaster occurred on January 28, 1986, when Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds into its flight, leading to the deaths of its seven crew members. The spacecraft disintegrated over the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of central Florida at 11:38 am EST...
) failed to reach orbit and is not counted. STS-107
STS-107
-Mission parameters:*Mass:**Orbiter Liftoff: **Orbiter Landing: **Payload: *Perigee: *Apogee: *Inclination: 39.0°*Period: 90.1 min- Insignia :...
(Columbia
Space Shuttle Columbia disaster
The Space Shuttle Columbia disaster occurred on February 1, 2003, when shortly before it was scheduled to conclude its 28th mission, STS-107, the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas and Louisiana during re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere, resulting in the death of all seven crew members...
) reached orbit and is therefore included in the count (disaster struck on re-entry).
Spaceports with achieved satellite launches
The following is a table of spaceports with a documented achieved launch to orbit. The table is sorted according to the time of the first launch that achieved satellite orbit insertion. The first column gives the geographical location. Operations from a different country are indicated in the last column. A launch is counted as one also in cases where the payload consists of multiple satellites.| Spaceport | Years (orbital) |
Launches to orbit or inter- planetary |
Launch vehicles (operators) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baikonur Cosmodrome Baikonur Cosmodrome The Baikonur Cosmodrome , also called Tyuratam, is the world's first and largest operational space launch facility. It is located in the desert steppe of Kazakhstan, about east of the Aral Sea, north of the Syr Darya river, near Tyuratam railway station, at 90 meters above sea level... , Baikonur/Tyuratam, Kazakhstan |
1957- | >1000 | R-7/Soyuz Soyuz (rocket) The Soyuz was a Soviet expendable carrier rocket designed by OKB-1 and manufactured by State Aviation Plant No. 1 in Samara, Russia. It was used to launch Soyuz spacecraft as part of the Soyuz programme, initially on unmanned test flights, followed by the first 19 manned launches of the... , Kosmos Kosmos (rocket family) The Kosmos rockets are a series of Soviet and subsequently Russian rockets, derived from the R-12 and R-14 missiles, the most well known of which is the Kosmos-3M, which has made over 440 launches, and is still in service... , Proton, Zenit, Energia Energia Energia was a Soviet rocket that was designed by NPO Energia to serve as a heavy-lift expendable launch system as well as a booster for the Buran spacecraft. Control system main developer enterprise was the NPO "Electropribor"... |
| Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Cape Canaveral Air Force Station is an installation of the United States Air Force Space Command's 45th Space Wing, headquartered at nearby Patrick Air Force Base. Located on Cape Canaveral in the state of Florida, CCAFS is the primary launch head of America's Eastern Range with four launch pads... , Florida Florida Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it... , USA |
1958- | >400 | Delta, Scout, Atlas Atlas (rocket family) Atlas is a family of U.S. space launch vehicles. The original Atlas missile was designed in the late 1950s and produced by the Convair Division of General Dynamics, to be used as an intercontinental ballistic missile... , Titan Titan (rocket family) Titan was a family of U.S. expendable rockets used between 1959 and 2005. A total of 368 rockets of this family were launched, including all the Project Gemini manned flights of the mid-1960s... , Saturn Saturn (rocket family) The Saturn family of American rocket boosters was developed by a team of mostly German rocket scientists led by Wernher von Braun to launch heavy payloads to Earth orbit and beyond. Originally proposed as a military satellite launcher, they were adopted as the launch vehicles for the Apollo moon... , Athena, Falcon 9 Falcon 9 Falcon 9 is a rocket-powered spaceflight launch system designed and manufactured by SpaceX. Both stages of its two-stage-to-orbit vehicle use liquid oxygen and rocket-grade kerosene propellants... |
| Vandenberg Air Force Base Vandenberg Air Force Base Vandenberg Air Force Base is a United States Air Force Base, located approximately northwest of Lompoc, California. It is under the jurisdiction of the 30th Space Wing, Air Force Space Command .... , California California California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area... , USA |
1959- | >500 | Delta, Scout, Atlas Atlas (rocket family) Atlas is a family of U.S. space launch vehicles. The original Atlas missile was designed in the late 1950s and produced by the Convair Division of General Dynamics, to be used as an intercontinental ballistic missile... , Titan Titan (rocket family) Titan was a family of U.S. expendable rockets used between 1959 and 2005. A total of 368 rockets of this family were launched, including all the Project Gemini manned flights of the mid-1960s... , Taurus, Athena, Minotaur |
| Wallops Flight Facility Wallops Flight Facility Wallops Flight Facility , located on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, is operated by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, primarily as a rocket launch site to support science and exploration missions for NASA and other U.S. government agencies... , Virginia Virginia The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there... , USA |
1961-1985 | 19 | Scout |
| Kapustin Yar Kapustin Yar Kapustin Yar is a Russian rocket launch and development site in Astrakhan Oblast, between Volgograd and Astrakhan. Known today as Znamensk , it was established 13 May 1946 and in the beginning used technology, material, and scientific support from defeated Germany... Cosmodrome, Astrakhan Oblast Astrakhan Oblast Astrakhan Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . Its administrative center is the city of Astrakhan.-Demographics:Population: Ethnic groups... , Russia |
1962- | >100 | Kosmos Kosmos (rocket family) The Kosmos rockets are a series of Soviet and subsequently Russian rockets, derived from the R-12 and R-14 missiles, the most well known of which is the Kosmos-3M, which has made over 440 launches, and is still in service... |
| Hammaguir Hammaguir Hammaguir is a town in Algeria, south-west of Béchar. Between 1947 and 1967 there was a rocket launch site near Hammaguir, used by France for launching sounding rockets and the satellite carrier "Diamant" between 1965 and 1967.... French Special Weapons Test Centre, Algeria |
1965–1967 | 4 | Diamant Diamant The Diamant rocket was the first exclusively French expendable launch system and at the same time the first satellite launcher not built by either the USA or USSR. As such it is the main predecessor of all subsequent European launcher projects... A (France) |
| Plesetsk Cosmodrome Plesetsk Cosmodrome Plesetsk Cosmodrome is a Russian spaceport, located in Arkhangelsk Oblast, about 800 km north of Moscow and approximately 200 km south of Arkhangelsk.-Overview:... , Arkhangelsk Oblast Arkhangelsk Oblast Arkhangelsk Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . It includes the Arctic archipelagos of Franz Josef Land and Novaya Zemlya, as well as the Solovetsky Islands in the White Sea.... , Russia |
1966- | >1000 | Soyuz Soyuz (rocket) The Soyuz was a Soviet expendable carrier rocket designed by OKB-1 and manufactured by State Aviation Plant No. 1 in Samara, Russia. It was used to launch Soyuz spacecraft as part of the Soyuz programme, initially on unmanned test flights, followed by the first 19 manned launches of the... , Kosmos Kosmos (rocket family) The Kosmos rockets are a series of Soviet and subsequently Russian rockets, derived from the R-12 and R-14 missiles, the most well known of which is the Kosmos-3M, which has made over 440 launches, and is still in service... |
| San Marco platform, Broglio Space Centre, Malindi, Kenya | 1967–1988 | 9 | Scout (ASI Italian Space Agency The Italian Space Agency is a government agency established in 1988 to fund, regulate and coordinate space exploration activities in Italy... and Sapienza, Italy) |
| Kennedy Space Center Kennedy Space Center The John F. Kennedy Space Center is the NASA installation that has been the launch site for every United States human space flight since 1968. Although such flights are currently on hiatus, KSC continues to manage and operate unmanned rocket launch facilities for America's civilian space program... , Florida, USA |
1967- | 151 | 17 Saturn Saturn (rocket family) The Saturn family of American rocket boosters was developed by a team of mostly German rocket scientists led by Wernher von Braun to launch heavy payloads to Earth orbit and beyond. Originally proposed as a military satellite launcher, they were adopted as the launch vehicles for the Apollo moon... , 134 Space Shuttle Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons... |
| Woomera Prohibited Area, South Australia | 1967-1971 | 2 | Redstone Redstone (rocket) The PGM-11 Redstone was the first large American ballistic missile. A short-range surface-to-surface rocket, it was in active service with the U.S. Army in West Germany from June 1958 to June 1964 as part of NATO's Cold War defense of Western Europe... (WRESAT WRESAT WRESAT was the name of the first Australian satellite. It was named after its designer.... ), Black Arrow Black Arrow Black Arrow, officially capitalised BLACK ARROW, was a British satellite carrier rocket. Developed during the 1960s, it was used for four launches between 1969 and 1971... (UK Prospero X-3 Prospero X-3 -External links:* from "Woomera on the Web"* from Encyclopedia Astronautica* in the Global Frequency Database... ) |
| Uchinoura Space Center Uchinoura Space Center The is a space launch facility close to the Japanese town of Kimotsuki, in Kagoshima Prefecture. Before the establishment of the JAXA space agency in 2003, it was simply called the . All Japan's scientific satellites were launched from Uchinoura prior to the M-V launch vehicles being decommissioned... (Kagoshima), Japan |
1970–2006 | 27 | Mu |
| Guiana Space Centre, Kourou, French Guiana | 1970- | >200 | 7 Diamant Diamant The Diamant rocket was the first exclusively French expendable launch system and at the same time the first satellite launcher not built by either the USA or USSR. As such it is the main predecessor of all subsequent European launcher projects... , 9+5+10+113+59 Ariane, 1 Soyuz Soyuz (rocket) The Soyuz was a Soviet expendable carrier rocket designed by OKB-1 and manufactured by State Aviation Plant No. 1 in Samara, Russia. It was used to launch Soyuz spacecraft as part of the Soyuz programme, initially on unmanned test flights, followed by the first 19 manned launches of the... (ESA) |
| Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center is a People's Republic of China space vehicle launch facility .The facility is part of Dongfeng Aerospace City , and is located in the Gobi desert, Ejin Banner , Alxa League , Inner Mongolia, situated about 1,600 km from Beijing.- History :It was founded in 1958,... , China |
1970- | 34 | Long March |
| Satish Dhawan Space Centre Satish Dhawan Space Centre The Satish Dhawan Space Centre is the launch centre for the Indian Space Research Organisation . It is located in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, India, north of Chennai in South India. It was originally called Sriharikota High Altitude Range , and was sometime known as Sriharikota Launching Range... (SHAR), Andhra Pradesh, India |
1980- | 28 | 3 SLV Satellite Launch Vehicle The Indian Satellite Launch Vehicle or SLV was a project started in the early 1970s by Indian Space Research Organisation to develop the technology needed to launch satellites. The project was headed by Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. SLV was intended to reach a height of 400 km and carry a payload of... , 2 ASLV ASLV Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle , was a 5-stage solid propellant rocket developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation to place 150 kg satellites into LEO. This project was started by India during the early 1980s to develop technologies needed for a payload to be placed into a... , 19 PSLV, 4 GSLV |
| Xichang Satellite Launch Center Xichang Satellite Launch Center The Xichang Satellite Launch Center also known as Base 27 , is a People’s Republic of China space vehicle launch facility approximately 64 km northwest of Xichang City, Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province.... , China |
1984- | >60 | Long March |
| Tanegashima Space Center Tanegashima Space Center The is one of Japan's space development facilities. It is located on Tanegashima, an island located 115 km south of Kyūshū. It was established in 1969 when the National Space Development Agency of Japan was formed... , Japan |
1986- | 32 | 9 H-I H-I The H-I or H-1 was a Japanese liquid-fuelled carrier rocket, consisting of a licence-produced American first stage and set of booster rockets, and all-Japanese upper stages. It was launched nine times between 1986 and 1992... , 5 H-II H-II The H-II rocket was a Japanese satellite launch system, which flew seven times between 1994 and 1999, with five successes. It was developed by NASDA in order to give Japan a capability to launch larger satellites in the 1990s. It was the first two-stage liquid-fuelled rocket Japan made using only... , 18 H-IIA H-IIA H-IIA is an active expendable launch system operated by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency . The liquid-fueled H-IIA rockets have been used to launch satellites into geostationary orbit, to launch a lunar orbiting spacecraft, and to launch an interplanetary... |
| Palmachim Air Force Base Palmachim Airbase Palmachim Air Force Base is an Israeli military facility and spaceport located near the cities of Rishon LeZion and Yavne on the Mediterranean Sea. It is named after nearby Kibbutz Palmachim on the Mediterranean shore.... , Israel |
1988- | 6 | Shavit Shavit Shavit is a space launch vehicle produced by Israel to launch small satellites into low earth orbit. It was first launched on September 19, 1988 , making Israel the eighth country to have a space launch capability after the USSR, United States, France, Japan, People's Republic of China, United... |
| Various airport runways (B52, Stargazer Stargazer (aircraft) Stargazer, registration number N140SC, is a modified Lockheed L-1011 TriStar aircraft used by Orbital Sciences Corporation as a mother ship launch pad for Pegasus rockets... ) |
1990- | 37 | Pegasus (Orbital Sciences Corporation Orbital Sciences Corporation Orbital Sciences Corporation is an American company which specializes in the manufacturing and launch of satellites. Its Launch Systems Group is heavily involved with missile defense launch systems... ) |
| Svobodny Cosmodrome, Amur Oblast, Russia | 1997–2006 | 5 | Start-1 START-1 Start-1 is a Russian satellite launch vehicle based on the RT-2PM Topol, a Soviet intercontinental ballistic missile developed by Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology.- History :... |
| Delta class submarine Delta class submarine The Delta class is a class of submarines which formed the backbone of the Soviet and Russian strategic submarine fleet since its introduction in 1973... , Barents Sea |
1998- | 2 | Shtil' Shtil' Space launch vehicle Shtil Space launch vehicle Shtil Space launch vehicle Shtil (Russian: (Штиль - calm (weather)), is a converted SLBM used for launching artificial satellites into orbit. It is based on the R-29RM designed by State Rocket Center Makeyev and related to the Volna Launch Vehicle.... (Russia) |
| Ocean Odyssey Ocean Odyssey |-External links:*... mobile platform, Pacific Ocean |
1999– | 29 | Zenit-3SL Zenit-3SL The Zenit-3SL is an expendable carrier rocket operated by Sea Launch. First flown in 1999, it has been launched 30 times, with two failures and one partial failure. It is a member of the Zenit family of rockets, and is built by the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau. RKK Energia produces the Block DM-SL upper... (Sea Launch Sea Launch Sea Launch is a spacecraft launch service that uses a mobile sea platform for equatorial launches of commercial payloads on specialized Zenit 3SL rockets... ) |
| Kodiak Launch Complex Kodiak Launch Complex The Kodiak Launch Complex is a commercial rocket launch facility for sub-orbital and orbital space launch vehiclesowned and operated by the Alaska Aerospace Corporation, a public corporation of the State of Alaska.... , Alaska, USA |
2001-2001 | 2 | Athena, Minotaur IV |
| Yasny Cosmodrome Dombarovsky Dombarovsky is an interceptor aircraft base in Orenburg Oblast, Russia located 6 km northwest of the village of Dombarovsky, near Yasny... (Dombarovsky), Orenburg Oblast, Russia |
2006- | 4 | Dnepr-1 |
| Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport The Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport is a commercial space launch facility located at the southern tip of NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on the Delmarva Peninsula south of Chincoteague, Virginia.-Background:... (MARS), Virginia, USA |
2006- | 4 | Minotaur I |
| Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center The Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center also known as Base 25 , is a People's Republic of China space and defence launch facility . It is situated in Kelan County, Xinzhou Prefecture, Shanxi Province and is the second of three launch sites having been founded in March 1966 and coming into full... , China |
2007- | 4 | Long March |
| Omelek, Marshall Islands | 2008- | 2 | Falcon 1 Falcon 1 The Falcon 1 is a partially reusable launch system designed and manufactured by SpaceX, a space transportation company in Hawthorne, California. The two-stage-to-orbit rocket uses LOX/RP-1 for both stages, the first powered by a single Merlin engine and the second powered by a single Kestrel engine... |
| Semnan Semnan Province Semnan Province is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. It is in the north of the country, and its center is Semnan. The province of Semnan covers an area of 96,816 square kilometers and stretches along the Alborz mountain range and borders to Dasht-e Kavir desert in its southern parts.Counties of... , Iran |
2009- | 2 | Safir |
See also
- List of rocket launch sites
- List of human spaceflights
- Launch padLaunch padA launch pad is the area and facilities where rockets or spacecraft lift off. A spaceport can contain one or many launch pads. A typical launch pad consists of the service and umbilical structures. The service structure provides an access platform to inspect the launch vehicle prior to launch....
- SpaceflightSpaceflightSpaceflight is the act of travelling into or through outer space. Spaceflight can occur with spacecraft which may, or may not, have humans on board. Examples of human spaceflight include the Russian Soyuz program, the U.S. Space shuttle program, as well as the ongoing International Space Station...
- Orbital spaceflightOrbital spaceflightAn orbital spaceflight is a spaceflight in which a spacecraft is placed on a trajectory where it could remain in space for at least one orbit. To do this around the Earth, it must be on a free trajectory which has an altitude at perigee above...
- Sub-orbital spaceflightSub-orbital spaceflightA sub-orbital space flight is a spaceflight in which the spacecraft reaches space, but its trajectory intersects the atmosphere or surface of the gravitating body from which it was launched, so that it does not complete one orbital revolution....
- PortPortA port is a location on a coast or shore containing one or more harbors where ships can dock and transfer people or cargo to or from land....
- Office of Commercial Space TransportationOffice of Commercial Space TransportationThe Office of Commercial Space Transportation is the branch of the United States Federal Aviation Administration that approves any commercial rocket launch operations—that is, any launches that are not classified as model, amateur, or "by and for the government."-Overview:Under...
(USA) - Mojave spaceportMojave Spaceportthumb|right|235px|A retired [[Boeing 767-200]] that flew for [[Ansett Australia]] being cut open for scrap at Mojave AirportThe Mojave Air and Space Port , also known as the Civilian Aerospace Test Center, is located in Mojave, California, at an elevation of...
- Range safetyRange safetyIn rocketry, range safety is assured by the systems which protect people and assets on the rocket range in cases when a launch vehicle might endanger them. Range safety is usually the responsibility of a Range Safety Officer...
- Spaceport AmericaSpaceport AmericaSpaceport America is a spaceport located in the Jornada del Muerto desert basin in New Mexico, United States. It lies north of El Paso, north of Las Cruces, east of Truth or Consequences...
- Spaceport Curaçao
- Spaceport SwedenSpaceport SwedenSpaceport Sweden is a company that plans to make Kiruna the primary European Spaceport for personal suborbital spaceflight and space tourism. It's a co-operation between the Swedish Space Corporation, the Icehotel in Jukkasjärvi, LFV Group and Kiruna’s business-development company Progressum.The...
External links
- MSNBC: Spaceports compete in race for business
- Spaceport could be in the stars for Sheboygan The Daily CardinalThe Daily CardinalThe Daily Cardinal is a student newspaper that serves the University of Wisconsin–Madison community. The sixth oldest daily student newspaper in the country, it began publishing on Monday, April 4, 1892...
- HighBeam Research: Spaceflight of fancy: Lawmakers question fiscal feasibility of Southern New Mexico's proposed spaceport; supporters count on jobs.