Spaceport

Several terms redirect here. For other uses, see Eureka! Science + Discovery, List of launch complexes, Missile launch facility, and List of rocket launch sites.

"Space landing complex" redirects here. For the SpaceX facility, see Landing Zones 1 and 2.

Not to be confused with Cosmodome.

A spaceport or cosmodrome is a site for launching or receiving spacecraft, by analogy to a seaport for ships or an airport for aircraft. The word spaceport, and even more so cosmodrome, has traditionally been used for sites capable of launching spacecraft into orbit around Earth or on interplanetary trajectories.^[1] However, rocket launch sites for purely sub-orbital flights are sometimes called spaceports, as in recent years new and proposed sites for suborbital human flights have been frequently referred to or named "spaceports". Space stations and proposed future bases on the Moon are sometimes called spaceports, in particular if intended as a base for further journeys.^[2]

The Baikonur Cosmodrome (Gagarin's Start launch pad)

The term rocket launch site is used for any facility from which rockets are launched. It may contain one or more launch pads or suitable sites to mount a transportable launch pad. It is typically surrounded by a large safety area, often called a 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 are sometimes located in the range to assess the progress of the launches.^[3]

Major spaceports often include more than one launch complex, which can be rocket launch sites adapted for different types of launch vehicles. (These sites can be well-separated for safety reasons.) 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 may also include runways for takeoff and landing of aircraft to support spaceport operations, or to enable support of HTHL or HTVL winged launch vehicles.

History

The age of crewed rocket flight was initiated by Fritz von Opel who piloted the world's first rocket-propelled flight on 30 September 1929; von Opel was the co-designer and financier of the visionary project which led to actual space flights.

 

Peenemünde, Germany, where the V-2, the first rocket to reach space in June 1944, was launched

The first rockets to reach space were V-2 rockets launched from Peenemünde, Germany in 1944 during World War II.^[4] After the war, 70 complete V-2 rockets were brought to White Sands for test launches, with 47 of them reaching altitudes between 100 km and 213 km.^[5]

The world's first spaceport for orbital and human launches, the Baikonur Cosmodrome in southern Kazakhstan, started as a Soviet military rocket range in 1955. It achieved the first orbital flight (Sputnik 1) 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 planes had identified the site by following railway lines in the Kazakh SSR, although Soviet authorities did not confirm the location for decades.^[6]

The Baikonur Cosmodrome achieved the first launch of a human into space (Yuri Gagarin) in 1961. The launch complex used, Site 1, has reached a special symbolic significance and is commonly called Gagarin's Start. Baikonur was the primary Soviet cosmodrome, and is still frequently 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 uncrewed flights, as well as the early human flights, were carried out at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. For the Apollo programme, an adjacent spaceport, Kennedy Space Center, was constructed, and achieved the first crewed mission to the lunar surface (Apollo 11) in July 1969. It was the base for all Space Shuttle 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 5 degrees north of the equator.

In October 2003 the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center achieved the first Chinese human spaceflight.

Breaking with tradition, in June 2004 on a runway at Mojave Air and Space Port, California, a human was for the first time launched to space in a privately 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.

At Cape Canaveral, SpaceX in 2015 made the first successful landing and recovery of a first stage used in a vertical satellite launch.^[7]

Location

Rockets can most easily reach satellite orbits if launched near the equator in an easterly direction, as this maximizes use of the Earth's rotational speed (465 m/s at the equator). Such launches also provide a desirable orientation for arriving at a geostationary orbit. For polar orbits and Molniya orbits this does not apply.

In principle, advantages of high altitude launch are reduced vertical distance to travel and a thinner atmosphere for the rocket to penetrate. However, altitude of the launch site is not a driving factor in spaceport placement because most of the delta-v for a launch is spent on achieving the required horizontal orbital speed. The small gain from a few kilometers of extra altitude does not usually off-set the logistical costs of ground transport in mountainous terrain.

Many spaceports have been placed at existing military installations, such as intercontinental ballistic missile ranges, which are not always physically ideal sites for launch.

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.^[8]

Planned sites of spaceports for sub-orbital tourist spaceflight often make use of existing ground infrastructure, including runways. The nature of the local view from 100 km (62 mi) altitude is also a factor to consider.

 

Active orbital-launch spaceports in the world.

Space tourism

The space tourism industry (see List of private spaceflight companies) is being targeted by spaceports in numerous locations worldwide. e.g. Spaceport America, New Mexico.

The establishment of spaceports for tourist trips raises legal issues, which are only beginning to be addressed.^[9][10]

With achieved vertical launches of humans

The following is a table of spaceports and launch complexes for vertical launchers with documented achieved launches of humans to space (more than 100 km (62 mi) altitude). The sorting order is spaceport by spaceport according to the time of the first human launch.

Spaceport	Launch complex	Launcher	Spacecraft	Flights	Years
Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan (Soviet and Russian flights)	Site 1	Vostok (r)	Vostok 1–6	6 Orbital	1961–1963
	Site 1	Voskhod (r)	Voskhod 1–2	2 Orbital	1964–1965
	Site 1, 31	Soyuz, Soyuz-U	Soyuz 1–40 †	37 Orbital	1967–1981
	Site 1, 31	Soyuz-U, Soyuz-U2	Soyuz-T 2–15	14 Orbital	1980–1986
	Site 1	Soyuz-U, Soyuz-U2	Soyuz-TM 2–34	33 Orbital	1987–2002
	Site 1	Soyuz-FG	Soyuz-TMA 1–22	22 Orbital	2002–2011
	Site 1, 31	Soyuz-FG	Soyuz TMA-M 1–20	20 Orbital	2010–2016
	Site 1, 31	Soyuz-FG	Soyuz MS 1–9, 11–13, 15	13 Orbital	2016–2019
	Site 1, 31	Soyuz-2	Soyuz MS 16–22	7 Orbital	2020–
Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, United States	LC-5	Redstone	Mercury 3–4	2 Sub-O	1961
	LC-14	Atlas	Mercury 6–9	4 Orbital	1962–1963
	LC-19	Titan II	Gemini 3–12	10 Orbital	1965–1966
	LC-34	Saturn IB	Apollo 7	1 Orbital	1968
Kennedy Space Center, Florida, United States	LC-39	Saturn V	Apollo 8–17	10 Lun/Or	1968–1972
		Saturn IB	Skylab 2–4	3 Orbital	1973–1974
		Saturn IB	Apollo–Soyuz	1 Orbital	1975
		Space Shuttle	STS 1-135‡	134 Orbital	1981–2011
		Falcon 9 Block 5	Crew Dragon	9 Orbital	2020–
Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, China	Area 4	Long March 2F	Shenzhou 5–7, 9-16	11 Orbital	2003–
Corn Ranch, Texas, United States	Launch Site One	New Shepard	New Shepard Crew Capsule	5 Sub-O	2015–

† Three of the Soyuz missions were uncrewed and are not counted (Soyuz 2, Soyuz 20, Soyuz 34).

‡ STS-51-L (Challenger) failed to reach orbit and is not counted. STS-107 (Columbia) reached orbit and is therefore included in the count (disaster struck on re-entry).

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 fourth column. A launch is counted as one also in cases where the payload consists of multiple satellites.

Spaceport	Location	Years (orbital)	Launches to orbit or inter- planetary	Launch vehicles (operators)	Sources
Baikonur Cosmodrome, Baikonur/Tyuratam, Kazakhstan^[11]	Kazakhstan	1957–	>1,000	R-7/Soyuz, Kosmos, Proton, Tsyklon, Zenit, Energia	^[citation needed]
Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, United States^[12]	United States	1958–	>400	Delta, Scout, Atlas, Titan, Saturn, Athena, Falcon 9	^[citation needed]
Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, United States^[13]	United States	1959–	>700	Delta, Scout, Atlas, Titan, Taurus, Athena, Minotaur, Falcon 9	^[14]
Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia, United States^[15] (see also MARS below)	United States	1961–1985	19	Scout	6^[15]+13^[15]
Kapustin Yar Cosmodrome, Astrakhan Oblast, Russia^[16]	Russia	1962–2008	85	Kosmos	^[16]^[citation needed]
Hammaguir French Special Weapons Test Centre, Algeria^[17]	Algeria	1965–1967	4	Diamant A (France)	Diamant
Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia^[18]	Russia	1966–	>1,500	R-7/Soyuz, Kosmos, Tsyklon-3, Rokot, Angara	^[18]
San Marco platform, Broglio Space Centre, Malindi, Kenya^[15]	Kenya	1967–1988	9	Scout (ASI and Sapienza, Italy)	Broglio
Kennedy Space Center, Florida, United States^[12]	United States	1967–	187	17 Saturn, 135 Space Shuttle, 32 Falcon 9, 8 Falcon Heavy	Saturn, STS, F9
Woomera Prohibited Area, South Australia^[15]	Australia	1967, 1971	2	Redstone (WRESAT), Black Arrow (UK Prospero X-3)	WRESAT, X-3
Uchinoura Space Center (Kagoshima), Japan^[15]	Japan	1970–	31	27 Mu, 3 Epsilon, 1 SS-520-5	^[15] M, ε, S
Guyane française Space Centre, Kourou, French Guiana, France^[19]	France	1970–	318	7 Diamant, 227 Ariane, 16 Soyuz-2, 11 Vega	see 4 rockets
Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, China^[15]	China	1970–	121	2 LM1, 3 LM2A, 20 LM2C, 36 LM2D, 13 LM2F, 3 LM4B, 5 LM4C, 3 LM11	See 8 rockets
Tanegashima Space Center, Japan^[15]	Japan	1975–	65	6 N-I, 8 N-II, 9 H-I, 6 H-II, 36 H-IIA	see 5 rockets
Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SHAR), Andhra Pradesh, India^[15]	India	1979–	88	4 SLV, 4 ASLV, 56 PSLV, 14 GSLV, 6 LVM 3, 2 SSLV	List SDSC
Xichang Satellite Launch Center, China^[20]	China	1984–	183	Long March: 6 LM2C, 5 LM2E, 11 LM3, 25 LM3A, 42 LM3B, 15 LM3C	See 6 rockets
Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, China^[21]	China	1988–	62	Long March: 16 LM2C, 2 LM2D, 2 LM4A, 25 LM4B, 15 LM4C, 2 LM6	See 6 rockets
Palmachim Air Force Base, Israel^[15]	Israel	1988–	8	Shavit	Shavit
Various airport runways (B-52, Stargazer)	Various	1990–	39	Pegasus (Orbital Sciences Corporation)	Pegasus
Svobodny Cosmodrome, Amur Oblast, Russia^[22]	Russia	1997–2006	5	Start-1	^[22]
Delta-class submarine, Barents Sea	Barents Sea	1998, 2006	2	Shtil' (Russia)	Shtil'
Odyssey mobile platform, Pacific Ocean	Pacific Ocean	1999–2014	32	Zenit-3SL (Sea Launch)	Sea Launch
Pacific Spaceport Complex (Kodiak), Alaska, United States^[23]^[24]	United States	2001–	3	1 Athena, 2 Minotaur IV	Kodiak
Yasny Cosmodrome (Dombarovsky), Orenburg Oblast, Russia^[25]	Russia	2006–	10	Dnepr	Dnepr
Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS), Virginia, United States^[26]	United States	2006–	12	5 Minotaur I, 6 Antares, 1 Minotaur V	MARS
Omelek, Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands	Marshall Islands	2008–2009	5	5 Falcon 1 (US)	Falcon 1
Semnan Space Center, Semnan, Iran^[15]^[27]	Iran	2009–	5	Safir, Simorgh, Zuljanah	Safir
Sohae Satellite Launching Station, North Korea	North Korea	2012–	2	Unha-3	K3-U2^[28]
Naro Space Center, South Jeolla, South Korea^[29]	South Korea	2013–	2	Naro-1, Nuri	Naro-1,Nuri
Vostochny Cosmodrome, Amur Oblast, Russia	Russia	2016–	8	8 Soyuz-2	Vostochny
Wenchang Satellite Launch Center, China	China	2016–	23	Long March: 9 LM5, 12 LM7, 2 LM8	See 3 rockets
Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, New Zealand	New Zealand	2018–	21	21 Electron	Electron (rocket)
various launching platforms from Dongfang Spaceport [zh], China	Yellow sea, East China sea	2019–	6	4 Long March 11, 1 SD3, 1 CERES-1 [zh]	See 3 rockets
Shahroud Space Center, Semnan Province, Iran	Iran	2020–	2	Qased	^[30]^[31]

With achieved horizontal launches of humans to 100 km

The following table shows spaceports with documented achieved launches of humans to at least 100 km altitude, starting from a horizontal runway. All the flights were sub-orbital.

Spaceport	Carrier aircraft	Spacecraft	Flights above 100 km	Years
Edwards AFB, California, United States	B-52	X-15	2 flights (# 90-91)	1963
Mojave Air and Space Port, California, United States	White Knight	SpaceShipOne	3 flights (# 15P-17P)	2004

Beyond Earth

Spaceports have been proposed for locations on the Moon, Mars, orbiting the Earth, at Sun-Earth and Earth-Moon Lagrange points, and at other locations in the Solar System. Human-tended outposts on the Moon or Mars, for example, will be spaceports by definition.^[32] The 2012 Space Studies Program of the International Space University studied the economic benefit of a network of spaceports throughout the solar system beginning from Earth and expanding outwardly in phases, within its team project Operations And Service Infrastructure for Space (OASIS).^[33] Its analysis claimed that the first phase, placing the "Node 1" spaceport with space tug services in low Earth orbit (LEO), would be commercially profitable and reduce transportation costs to geosynchronous orbit by as much as 44% (depending on the launch vehicle). The second phase would add a Node 2 spaceport on the lunar surface to provide services including lunar ice mining and delivery of rocket propellants back to Node 1. This would enable lunar surface activities and further reduce transportation costs within and out from cislunar space. The third phase would add a Node 3 spaceport on the Martian moon Phobos to enable refueling and resupply prior to Mars surface landings, missions beyond Mars, and return trips to Earth. In addition to propellant mining and refueling, the network of spaceports could provide services such as power storage and distribution, in-space assembly and repair of spacecraft, communications relay, shelter, construction and leasing of infrastructure, maintaining spacecraft positioned for future use, and logistics.^[34]

See also

• Launch pad
• List of human spaceflights
• List of rocket launch sites
• Office of Commercial Space Transportation (United States)
• Orbital spaceflight
• Port
• Range safety
• Spaceflight
• Sub-orbital spaceflight

•  Spaceflight portal

References

1. Roberts, Thomas G. (2019). "Spaceports of the World". Center for Strategic and International Studies. from the original on 7 August 2020. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
2. . Archived from the original on 24 December 2014.
3. Merritt Island Spaceflight Tracking and Data Network station
4. Dyson, Marianne J. (2007). Space and astronomy: decade by decade. Infobase Publishing. p. 95. ISBN 978-0-8160-5536-4.
5. Ernst Stuhlinger, Enabling technology for space transportation (The Century of Space Science, page 66, Kluwer, ISBN 0-7923-7196-8)
6. "Baikonur Cosmodrome (NIIP-5/GIK-5)". www.russianspaceweb.com. from the original on 8 February 2003. Retrieved 24 December 2010.
7. Grush, Loren (21 December 2015). "SpaceX successfully landed its Falcon 9 rocket after launching it to space". The Verge. from the original on 28 June 2017. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
8. . www.overlookpress.com. Archived from the original on 13 January 2018.
9. Londin, Jesse (9 February 2007). "Space Law Probe: Virginia Leads The Way". blogspot.com. from the original on 22 August 2017. Retrieved 28 April 2007.
10. Boyle, Alan (13 June 2006). "Regulators OK Oklahoma spaceport - Suborbital test flights could begin in 2007, setting stage for tourists". NBC News. from the original on 30 April 2013. Retrieved 26 June 2006.
11. . www.astronautix.com. Archived from the original on 7 February 2002.
12. . www.astronautix.com. Archived from the original on 31 October 2003.
13. . www.astronautix.com. Archived from the original on 8 February 2002.
14. Howell, Elizabeth (22 September 2016). "Vandenberg: West Coast Launch Site". Space.com. from the original on 15 June 2018. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
15. "Wallops Island". www.astronautix.com. from the original on 3 March 2022. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
16. . www.astronautix.com. Archived from the original on 4 November 2007.
17. . www.astronautix.com. Archived from the original on 5 May 2002.
18. . www.astronautix.com. Archived from the original on 29 December 2007.
19. "Arianespace - Launch program activity". from the original on 9 February 2014. Retrieved 26 May 2009.
20. . www.astronautix.com. Archived from the original on 29 January 2005.
21. . www.astronautix.com. Archived from the original on 28 December 2016.
22. . www.astronautix.com. Archived from the original on 2 August 2002.
23. . www.astronautix.com. Archived from the original on 7 July 2009.
24. Kodiak Readies for Quick Launch, Aviation Week, April 2010, accessed 26 April 2010. "Alaska's remote Kodiak Launch Complex is state-of-the-art, has a perfect mission record, and will soon be able to launch a satellite-carrying rocket within 24 hours of mission go-ahead."
25. . www.astronautix.com. Archived from the original on 18 June 2008.
26. "Welcome to Virginia Space". www.vaspace.org. from the original on 14 August 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
27. "Imam Khomeini Space Center | Facilities". NTI. from the original on 5 July 2017. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
28. . MSNBC. 12 December 2012. Archived from the original on 13 December 2012.
29. . Archived from the original on 4 February 2013.
30. "Iran's first space launch center near Shahrud for its Ghaem SLV project". www.b14643.de. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
31. Hinz, Fabian. "IRAN'S SOLID-PROPELLANT SLV PROGRAM IS ALIVE AND KICKING".
32. [Mendell, Wendell W. (1985). Lunar bases and space activities of the 21st century. Lunar and Planetary Institute. ISBN 0-942862-02-3.]
33. http://www.oasisnext.com/ 24 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine, OASIS official website
34. "OASIS Executive Summary Operations And Service Infrastructure for Space". from the original on 25 January 2014. Retrieved 7 December 2012.

External links

•   Media related to Spaceports at Wikimedia Commons
•   The dictionary definition of spaceport at Wiktionary
• U.S. Spaceports Online Reference Guide
• Center for Strategic and International Studies: Spaceports of the World
• Sheboygan Spaceport’s Future – Sea to Space
• HighBeam Research: Spaceflight of fancy: Lawmakers question fiscal feasibility of Southern New Mexico's proposed spaceport; supporters count on jobs. Archived 25 January 2013 at archive.today