Spaceport

A Bumper V-2 rocket being launched at Cape Canaveral, Florida on July 24, 1950. (NASA)

A spaceport or cosmodrome is a site for launching spacecraft, by analogy with seaport for ships or airport for aircraft. In rocketry, major spaceports (such as Centre Spatial Guyanais or Cape Canaveral Air Force Station) often include more than one launch complex, each of which may have more than one launch pad. Spaceports like the Mojave Spaceport include runways for takeoff and landing of rocket-powered aircraft like SpaceShipOne. Typically a spaceport site is large enough that, should a vehicle explode, it will not endanger human lives or adjacent launch pads.

Launches from near the equator in an easterly direction are preferred, as they allow maximum use of the Earth\'s rotational speed, and a good orientation for arriving at a geostationary orbit. The rotational boost increases the amount of mass that can be lifted to a given orbit with a given amount of fuel. For polar or Molniya orbits, these aspects do not apply. For safety, a launch from a location where the rocket range extends over water or deserted land is important.

Space tourism

The space tourism industry is being targeted by spaceports in numerous locations: Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, California, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Florida, Virginia Londin, Jesse. "Space Law Probe: Virginia Leads The Way", blogspot.com, 9 February 2007. Retrieved on 2007-04-28. , Alaska and Wisconsin in the United States, Russia\'s Baikonur spaceport and possibly an Australian site to be developed for the launching of Russian spacecraft.Boyle, Alan. "Regulators OK Oklahoma spaceport - Suborbital test flights could begin in 2007, setting stage for tourists", MSNBC, 13 June 2006. Retrieved on 2006-06-26.  Kiruna, Sweden is also planning to use Esrange as a spaceport [1].

Future spaceports

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.^{[citation needed]} One of the United States\' largest airports, Dulles International Airport in Northern Virginia, was designed with the future as a spaceport in mindhttp://www.visitingdc.com/airport/dulles-airport-information.htm. Some features that make it unique from other airports built during the same time period and suggest that it was designed with such plans in mind are extra long runways and a mid-field terminal complex.

See also

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• Rocket launch site
• Port
• Plesetsk Cosmodrome
• Office of Commercial Space Transportation
• List of spaceports

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

spaceport

• MSNBC: Spaceports compete in race for business
• Spaceport could be in the stars for Sheboygan The Daily Cardinal
• HighBeam Research: Spaceflight of fancy: Lawmakers question fiscal feasibility of Southern New Mexico\'s proposed spaceport; supporters count on jobs.

v • d • e Spaceports
Brazil (FAB, AEB)	Alcantara Launch Center	Spaceflight Portal
Canada (CAF, CSA)	Fort Churchill (rocket launch site), Manitoba, Canada
China (CNSA)	Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center • Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center • Wenchang Satellite Launch Center • Xichang Satellite Launch Center
Europe (ESA) France (CNES)	Guiana Space Centre (in French Guiana)
India (ISRO)	Satish Dhawan Space Centre
Israel (ISA)	Palmachim Airbase
Italy (ASI)	San Marco platform (coastal sublittoral of Kenya)
Japan (JAXA)	Tanegashima Space Center • Uchinoura Space Center
South Korea (KARI)	Naro Space Center
Sweden (SSC)	Esrange
Pakistan (SUPARCO)	Sonmiani Launch Center
Russia (RKA)	Baikonur Cosmodrome (in Kazakhstan) • Dombarovskiy • Kapustin Yar • Plesetsk Cosmodrome • Svobodny • Vostochny Cosmodrome
USA (NASA, DoD)	in USA: Kennedy Space Center • Wallops Flight Facility • Cape Canaveral Air Force Station • Vandenberg Air Force Base ♦ elsewhere: Reagan Test Site
Private	in USA: Corn Ranch • Kodiak Launch Complex • Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport • Mojave Spaceport • Oklahoma Spaceport • Spaceport America ♦ elsewhere: Ocean Odyssey

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