A spaceport or space launch facility is a site for launching spacecraft, by analogy with seaport for ships or airport for aircraft. In rocketry, major spaceports (such as 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.
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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 [1], 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.[2] 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. One of the United States' largest airports, Dulles International Airport in Northern Virginia, was designed with the future as a spaceport in mind. 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
- Rocket launch site
- Port
- Plesetsk Cosmodrome
- Office of Commercial Space Transportation
- List of spaceports
References
- ^ Londin, Jesse. "Space Law Probe: Virginia Leads The Way", blogspot.com, 9 February 2007. Retrieved on 2007-04-28.
- ^ 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.
External links
- 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.
