Spaceport

From OrbiterWiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search

A spaceport or cosmodrome (Russian: космодром) is a site for launching (or receiving) spacecraft, 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 around Earth or on interplanetary trajectories. 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'.

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.

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.

Spaceports with achieved human or satellite launches[edit]

Spaceports
Operator Location Spaceport Longitude Latitude
Australia Australia RAAF Woomera Range Complex 136°31'56" E 30°57'19" S
China China Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center 100°17'54" E 40°57'38" N
Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center 111°36'29" E 38°50'57" N
Xichang Satellite Launch Center 102°1'35.6" E 28°14'45.66" N
France Algeria Hammaguir 3°2' W 30°54' N
Guiana Guiana Space Centre (Kourou) 52°46'25" W 5°13'20" N
India India Satish Dhawan Space Centre 80°13'49.53" E 13°43'11.78" N
Iran Iran Semnan Space Center 53°55'20" E 35°14'5" N
Israel Israel Palmachim Airbase 34°41'26" E 31°53'52" N
Italy Kenya Broglio Space Center and
San Marco Platform
40°12'45" E 2°56'18" S
Japan Japan Tanegashima Space Center 130°58'12" E 30°24' N
Uchinoura Space Center 131°4'55" E 31°15'7" N
North Korea North Korea Sohae Satellite Launching Station 124°42'18" E 39°39'36" N
Russia Kazakhstan Baikonur Cosmodrome 63°18'18" E 45°57'54" N
Russia Kapustin Yar 45°43'54 E 48°40'4" N
Plesetsk Cosmodrome 40°34'40" E 62°55'32" N
Svobodny Cosmodrome 128° E 51°42' N
White Sea 37°30' E 65°30' N
Dombarovsky Air Base (Yasny) 59°50'32" E 51°5'38" N
South Korea South Korea Naro Space Center 127°32'6" E 34°25'55" N
United States Marshall Islands Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile
Defense Test Site (Kwajalein)
167°44' E 8°43' N
United States Cape Canaveral Space Force Station 80°34'40" W 28°29'20" N
Kennedy Space Center 80°39'3" W 28°31'27" N
Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport 75°28'41" W 37°50'36" N
Odyssey (mobile launch platform)
Pacific Spaceport Complex (Kodiak) 152°20'16" W 57°26'9" N
Vandenberg Space Force Base 120°34'5" W 34°43'58" N
Wallops Flight Facility 75°27'26" W 37°56'19" N

See also[edit]

Earth spaceports in Orbiter2016