Launch Support Archives

2008 – U.S. Spaceports – Snapshot

Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) lies on the Atlantic shore of Florida, almost directly east of Orlando, and adjacent to the Kennedy Space Center (KSC). The spaceport supports a mix of government civil, military, and commercial launches. Primary users of CCAFS include the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, NASA, and private launch service providers.

2008 – Spaceports – Snapshot

Spaceports operate around the world, offering different capabilities and scales of operation. Some spaceports consist of little more than a basic control center, transportation infrastructure, and launch platform. Others are more elaborate, with facilities for payload processing and integration as well as state-of-the-art mission operation centers.

2007 – U.S. Spaceports

Oklahoma Spaceport received an FAA license for suborbital flights in June 2006. Blue Origin, founded by Amazon.com’s Jeff Bezos, received an experimental permit in 2006 for its West Texas launch site. The first test flight from Blue Origin’s facility was conducted on November 13 of the same year.

2007 – Spaceports Overview

The availability of U.S. launch sites continued to expand in 2006 and 2007 with the addition of several non-federally funded spaceports. Internationally, there are numerous launch sites both planned and in operation around the world. Exhibit 3n lists current major international launch sites as compiled by the Teal Group and Astronautix.

2005 – Spaceports Overview

Major United States and international launch sites, according to Teal Group and Astronautix are listed in Exhibit 2m. These launch sites are both commercial and government operated.