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Spaceport

From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.

A spaceport is a site for launching spacecraft, by analogy with airport for aircraft. Typically the site is large enough that should a rocket explode it will not endanger human lives or adjacent launch pads.

Typically preferred are launches from near the equator in an easterly direction. This allows maximum use of the Earth's rotational speed, and a good orientation for arriving at a geostationary orbit. It also increases mass-to-orbit. For polar or Molniya orbits, these aspects do not apply. For safety, a launch vector over water or deserted land is important.

It is believed that future hypersonic aircraft will require a very long runway rather than a vertical launch pad. Such hypothetical spaceports will present unique challenges in noise abatement, zoning, and passenger access, with as much as a 5 mile wide corridor surrounding a 30 mile long runway. A dedicated mass transit system from the nearest public access point to the aircraft boarding area will be required.

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North America

Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, on Merritt Island, Florida
Kennedy Space Center, also on Merritt Island, Florida
Vandenberg Air Force Base, California
Kodiak Launch Complex, Kodiak Island Borough, Alaska
Meadows Field Airport, Bakersfield, California, not technically a spaceport, but is the take-off site for Orbital Sciences' mothership for Pegasus
Mojave Spaceport, Mojave, California
Oklahoma Spaceport, Burns Flat, Oklahoma
Southwest Regional Spaceport, Upham, New Mexico

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South America

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Asia

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Open ocean

Sea Launch sails with a converted oil platform between Long Beach, California, where a rocket is collected, and the equator, where the rocket is launched from the platform
San Marco Platform

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