8 Spaceports That Are America's Gateway to the Stars
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We are so, so
close to commercial orbital tourism. We sit on the cusp of a new space
age—an age of convenience rather than exploration, where anybody—really,
anybody—can become an astronaut.
To date,
only eight non-governmental facilities in the entire country have
received FAA licensing approval to operate as spaceports. These
spaceports have grown largely from former military and NASA
installations—because why build a multi-million dollar launch facility
when you can just buy one? But space travel (not unlike pimpin') ain't
easy, and it ain't cheap—yet. This handful of pioneering spaceports aim
to change that.
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Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS)
NASA's
Wallops Flight Facility, located on Virginia's eastern shore, was
established in 1945 as an aerodynamics test-bed and orbital launch
facility. In the 68 years since, more than 16,000 rockets have taken off
from Wallops, including early prototypes for the Mercury Project and LADEE.
These days, in addition to acting as one of NASA's two remaining launch
pads, Wallops is also home to the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport
(MARS).
Governed by
the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority, MARS utilizes a pair of
launchpads: Pad 0A, which is licensed by the FAA for delivering
payloads up 11,100 pounds into Lower Earth Orbit, and Pad 0B, which
supports 8,400 pound payloads and is more suited to smaller vehicles
like the Minotaur IV or Minuteman rockets. It also accommodates both
liquid and hybrid fuel vehicles in addition to the more conventional
solid-fuels.
MARS
recently hosted the inaugural launch of Orbital Sciences Corps'
autonomous Cygnus cargo logistics spacecraft, aboard the company's
Antares rocket. The Cygnus, a competitor to Elon Musk's Dragon Capsule,
successfully launched on September 18th, 2013. Four days later it
reached the ISS, docked, and delivered 1,500 pounds of supplies. [MARS Spaceport - Image: AP Photo/NASA, Bill Ingalls]
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The California Spaceport
In
operation since 1999, the California Spaceport at Vandenberg Air Force
Base in Lompoc, CA is the oldest licensed "Commercial Space Launch Site
Operator" in America. What's more, it's the only fully-commercialized
facility in the country—it operates entirely without government funding.
The “Space
Launch Complex 8” or SLC-8 (the area with the orange construction crane,
above) is the primary launch site. It's capable of supporting both
polar and ballistic launch trajectories using smaller Minotaur class
boosters, but as of 2011, had only hosted a total of nine launches. [Calspace - Image: AP Photo/Spaceport Systems International, Bruce Fall]
The Oklahoma Spaceport
Tucked away
in the middle of Oklahoma's nowere resides one of the longest runways
in North America—the 13,503 foot main drag at the Oklahoma Spaceport.
That much tarmac, combined with the virtually plane-free Oklahoma
skies—it's the first inland spaceport to completely avoid military and
restricted airspace—this spaceport is ideally suited as a commercial
facility for HTOL (Horizontal Take Off and Landing) vehicles. The
Oklahoma spaceport is also home to Armadillo Aerospace,
even though its lunar lander prototype is strictly a VTOL. Best of all,
the OK Spaceport even features a 9-hole golf course. [OK Spaceport]
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Cape Canaveral Spaceport
In addition
to Wallops Island in Virginia, NASA also maintains its flight
facilities in Cape Canaveral, Florida. But since the demise of the
shuttle program, both the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) and
Kennedy Space Center (KSC) have been opened up to additional commercial
endeavors. Together, these facilities feature three active launch pads
and two active runways for horizontal launches between them.
Launch
Complex 46 and Launch Complex 20 are Cape Canaveral's primary launch
platforms. LC 46 is designed to accommodate medium class rockets like
the Lockheed Athena or Orbital Sciences Corp.'s Taurus class as well as
ballistic missiles like the Trident II and Minuteman rockets. LC 20 on
the other hand is built to handle small, suborbital launch systems such
as the LiteStar, Terrier, Orion, and ASAS rockets. [Space Florida - Space Ref - Image: AP Photo/John Raoux]
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Cecil Spaceport
America's
newest spaceport is located at Cecil Airport in Jacksonville, Florida—at
the site of the decommissioned Naval Air Station Cecil Field. Cecil
Spaceport has only been licensed since 2010, but already operates the
necessary facilities for supporting horizontally launched recoverable
vehicles. The spaceport has 12,500, 8,000, and 4,000-foot long runways
already and is currently developing additional taxiways and
spaceport-specific facilities. The improvements should be complete by
the end of the decade. [Space Florida - Jacksonville Aerospace Auth - Image: AP Photo/Oscar Sosa]
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Mojave Air & Space Port
Built at a
decommissioned Navy airfield and WWII gunnery training range, the Mojave
Air and Space Port has become one of the country's premiere test sites
for private space vehicles. Beginning with the rotary rocket program in
the early 1990's the Mojave facility has hosted some of the biggest
names in commercial space travel including SpaceShipOne, which won the
Ansari X Prize in 2004, XCOR Aerospace, Masten Space Systems, and
Orbital Science Corp. [Wikipedia - Image: (AP Photo/Laura Rauch]
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Spaceport America
Located in
the Jornada del Muerto desert basin of New Mexico, Spaceport America is
billed as "the world's first purpose-built commercial spaceport" and is
home to private space luminaries such as Virgin Galactic, SpaceX, UP
Aerospace, and Armadillo Aerospace.
The LEED
Gold-certified facility covers approximately 670,000 square feet in
total and includes a pair of 47,ooo square-foot double-height hangars as
well as an on-site mission control center. The spaceport is accessible
via a short shuttle ride from the nearby town of Truth Or Consequences,
NM. [Wikipedia - Spaceport America]
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Kodiak Launch Complex
The 3,700
acre Kodiak Launch Complex is the only high altitude, full service
spaceport in the country. Located on the 54th latitude at Narrow Cape,
Kodiak Island, the KLC specializes in polar launches—those commonly used
for putting satellites into orbit. The state-of-the-art facility
includes dual launch pads (one for orbital launches, the other
sub-orbital), a 17-story rocket assembly building, and a clean room for
preparing satellites. The KLC is currently building a third pad that
will allow an incredibly tight launch schedule—less than 24 hours from
go-ahead to liftoff. [Alaska Aerospace - Image: AP Photo/U.S. Navy, John F. Williams]
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