A spaceport or cosmodrome is a site for launching or receiving spacecraft, by analogy to a seaport for ships or an 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". Space stations and proposed future bases on the Moon are sometimes called spaceports, in particular if intended as a base for further journeys.
Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) is an installation of the United States Space Force's Space Launch Delta 45, located on Cape Canaveral in Brevard County, Florida.
The Pacific Spaceport Complex – Alaska (PSCA), formerly known as the Kodiak Launch Complex (KLC), is a dual-use commercial and military spaceport for sub-orbital and orbital launch vehicles. The facility is owned and operated by the Alaska Aerospace Corporation, a corporation owned by the Government of Alaska, and is located on Kodiak Island in Alaska.
This is a timeline of first orbital launches by country. While a number of countries, incl. Canada, Australia, Germany, Brazil, Algeria, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Argentina, Italy, Malaysia, Poland, South Africa, the Philippines, Egypt, Spain, Mexico, Thailand and Chile, have built or launched satellites, as of 2022, eleven countries, incl. the United States, Japan, China, India, Iran, Israel, France, the United Kingdom and South Korea, have had the capability to send objects into orbit with their own launch vehicles. Russia and Ukraine inherited the capability of the space launchers and satellites from the Soviet Union, following its dissolution in 1991. Russia launches its rockets from its own and foreign (Kazakh) spaceports.
Spaceport America, formerly the Southwest Regional Spaceport, is an FAA-licensed spaceport located on 18,000 acres (7,300 ha) of State Trust Land in the Jornada del Muerto desert basin 45 miles (72 km) north of Las Cruces, New Mexico, and 20 miles (32 km) southeast of Truth or Consequences. With Virgin Galactic's launch of the VSS Unity, with three people aboard, on May 22, 2021, New Mexico became the third US state to launch humans into space after California and Florida.
Missile Row was a nickname given in the 1960s to the eight SM-65 Atlas and HGM-25A Titan I launch complexes at the middle area of Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, historically used by the United States Air Force and NASA. Operated by the 45th Space Wing since 1949, it was the site of all fourteen Mercury-Atlas and Gemini launches, as well as many other early missile tests, Department of Defense launches, and NASA launches. Missile Row and Cape Canaveral played a secondary role to Vandenberg Air Force Base in California for DoD launches, but it was used by many NASA launches of unmanned space probes, thanks to said spacecraft being typically launched on military vehicles.
As of 2023, SpaceX operates four launch facilities: Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40), Vandenberg Space Force Base Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E), Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A), and Brownsville South Texas Launch Site (Starbase). Space Launch Complex 40 was damaged in the AMOS-6 accident in September 2016 and repair work was completed by December 2017. SpaceX believes that they can optimize their launch operations, and reduce launch costs, by dividing their launch missions amongst these four launch facilities: LC-39A for NASA launches, SLC-40 for United States Space Force national security launches, SLC-4E for polar launches, and South Texas Launch Site for commercial launches.
Firefly Aerospace is an American private aerospace firm based in Cedar Park, Texas, that develops small and Medium-lift launch vehicles for commercial launches to orbit. The current company was formed when the assets of the former company Firefly Space Systems were acquired by EOS Launcher in March 2017, which was then renamed Firefly Aerospace. Firefly's stated purpose is to increase access to space, similar to other private spaceflight companies.
Spaceport Camden was a proposed commercial spaceport in Camden County, Georgia, near the city of Woodbine. The site tested the largest solid rocket motor ever fired as part of the Apollo Program and Camden County, Georgia was originally considered as a NASA launch site in the 1960s. Spaceport Camden began limited development as a rocket launch facility in early 2014, with its first launch taking place in August 2017, reaching 5,000 ft (1,524 m). While it had government support, it was met with local push back, and the project was ultimately scrapped in 2023.
Vector Launch, Inc. is an American space technology company which aims to launch suborbital and orbital payloads. Vector Launch declared bankruptcy in December 2019 and re-emerged in October 2020.
Vector-R is a two-stage orbital expendable launch vehicle under development by the American aerospace company Vector Launch to cover the commercial small satellite launch segment (CubeSats). Vector Launch went bankrupt in December 2019 and re-emerged in October 2020. Two prototypes were launched in 2017.
Relativity Space Inc. is an American aerospace manufacturing company headquartered in Long Beach, California. Relativity Space is developing manufacturing technologies, launch vehicles, and rocket engines for commercial orbital launch services. The company is notable for manufacturing most of their Terran 1 and Terran R rocket parts using 3D printing. As of April 2024, Terran R is on track for initial launch in 2026.
Orbital Express Launch Ltd., or Orbex, is a United Kingdom-based aerospace company that is developing a small commercial orbital rocket called Prime. Orbex is headquartered in Forres, Moray, in Scotland and has subsidiaries in Denmark and Germany. Orbex may build its future launch complex, Sutherland spaceport, on the A' Mhòine peninsula in the county of Sutherland, northern Scotland, if and when deemed necessary.
This article documents expected notable spaceflight events during the year 2026.
BluShift Aerospace is an employee-owned American aerospace firm based in Brunswick, Maine. Targeting the growing smallsat and cubesat launch markets, bluShift is developing suborbital sounding rockets and small-lift orbital rockets which will be launched from a proposed new spaceport in Maine. The company has received primary funding from NASAs SBIR grant program, the National Science Foundations I-Corps grant program, the Maine Technology Institute, and the Maine Space Grant Consortium. The company has active operations at the former Brunswick Naval Air Station and Loring Air Force Base.
SaxaVord Spaceport, previously known as Shetland Space Centre, is a UK spaceport located on the Lamba Ness peninsula on Unst, the most northerly of the inhabited Shetland Islands off the coast of Scotland. The site is near the RAF Saxa Vord radar station and the settlement of Skaw.
Terran 1 was an expendable two-stage small-lift launch vehicle developed by Relativity Space. Development began in 2017 and the rocket was retired in 2023. Most structures and components of the vehicle are manufactured with 3D printing processes.
The RS1 is ABL Space Systems's main launch vehicle platform. Both stages are powered by ABL's E2 rocket engine, with nine to eleven in the first stage, and one in the second stage. They are powered by RP-1 or Jet-A kerosene as propellant and liquid oxygen (LOX) as the oxidizer.
