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.
The Guiana Space Centre,also called Europe's Spaceport,is a European spaceport to the northwest of Kourou in French Guiana,a region of France in South America. Kourou is located approximately 310 mi (500 km) north of the equator at a latitude of 5°. In operation since 1968,it is a suitable location for a spaceport because of its equatorial location and open sea to the east.
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.
Goheung County (Goheung-gun) is a county in Jeollanam-do Province,South Korea.
The Xichang Satellite Launch Center (XSLC),also known as the Xichang Space Center,is a spaceport of China. It is located in Zeyuan Town (泽远镇),approximately 64 kilometers (40 mi) northwest of Xichang,Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan.
The Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI),established in 1989,is the aeronautics and space agency of South Korea. Its main laboratories are located in Daejeon,in the Daedeok Science Town. KARI's vision is to continue building upon indigenous launch capabilities,strengthen national safety and public service,industrialize satellite information and applications technology,explore the moon,and develop environmentally-friendly and highly-efficient cutting-edge aircraft and core aerospace technology. Current projects include the KSLV-2 launcher. Past projects include the 1999 Arirang-1 satellite. The agency was founded in 1989. Prior to South Korea's entry into the Institute for Advanced Engineering (IAE) in 1992,it focused primarily on aerospace technology.
Naro-1,previously designated the Korea Space Launch Vehicle or KSLV,was South Korea's first carrier rocket,and the first South Korean launch vehicle to achieve Earth orbit. On January 30,2013,the third Naro-1 vehicle built successfully placed STSAT-2C into low Earth orbit.
Satish Dhawan Space Centre - SDSC,located in Sriharikota,Tirupati district of Andhra Pradesh,is the primary spaceport of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
This is a timeline of first orbital launches by country. While a number of countries,incl. Canada,Australia,Brazil,Algeria,Kazakhstan,Argentina,Malaysia,the Philippines and Thailand,have built satellites,as of 2022,eleven countries,incl. the United States,Japan,India,China,France,the United Kingdom and South Korea,have had the capability to send objects into orbit using their own launch vehicles. Russia and Ukraine inherited the space launchers and satellites capability from the Soviet Union,following its dissolution in 1991. Russia launches its rockets from its own and foreign (Kazakh) spaceports.
The Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) is a commercial space launch facility located at the southern tip of NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island in Virginia,just east of the Delmarva Peninsula and south of Chincoteague,Virginia,United States. It is owned and operated by the Virginia Spaceport Authority.
Launch Pad 0 (LP-0),also known as Launch Complex 0 (LC-0),or Launch Area 0 (LA-0),is a launch complex at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) on Wallops Island,Virginia,in the United States. MARS is located adjacent to NASA's Wallops Flight Facility (WFF),which ran the launch complex until 2003. WFF continues to provide various support services to MARS launches under contract with the Commonwealth of Virginia.
STSat-2A was a satellite launched by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI),the national space agency of South Korea,from the Naro Space Center in Goheung County,South Jeolla using the Naro-1 (KSLV-1) launch vehicle.
STSat-2B,or Science and Technology Satellite-2B,was a South Korean satellite which was lost in the failure of the second flight of the Naro-1 launch vehicle. It was to have been operated by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI),and was intended to demonstrate technology for future spacecraft. The satellite had a mass of 100 kg (220 lb),and was expected to operate for at least two years.
Nuri,also known as KSLV-II,is a three-stage launch vehicle,the second one developed by South Korea and the successor to Naro-1 (KSLV-1). Nuri is developed by Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI). All three stages use indigenously developed launch vehicle engines,making Nuri the first indigenously developed South Korean orbital launch vehicle.
STSat-2C,or Science and Technology Satellite-2C,or Naro Science Satellite (ko:나로과학위성) was a South Korean satellite which was launched in 2013. It was operated by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI),and was intended to demonstrate technology for future spacecraft. The satellite had a mass of 100 kg (220 lb),and was expected to operate for less than a year.
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.
Seung Jo Kim is a South Korean aerospace engineer. He has been the current President of Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) since June 2011,where the most of the national aerospace systems like aircraft,satellites and rockets are developed. During his tenure,Kim led the development of smart Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV),the launch of KOMPSAT-3,KOMPSAT-5,STSat-3 and the first Korean space launch vehicle,Naro-1. Before becoming president of KARI,Kim had been a professor of the Engineering College at Seoul National University since 1986. He chaired the KSAS in 2009,the KSCM from 2005 to 2006,and the KSIAM from 2004 to 2008. He was also head of the New Aerospace Technology Research Institute from 2001 to 2003. Kim has been a fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) since 2010 and the Institute of Physics since 2004.
Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 is a commercial spaceport located close to Ahuriri Point at the southern tip of Māhia Peninsula,on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. It is owned and operated by private spaceflight company Rocket Lab and supports launches of the company's Electron rocket for CubeSat nanosatellites. The facility officially opened on 26 September 2016 (UTC). With the launch of Electron on 25 May 2017,it became the first private spaceport to host an orbital launch attempt,and the first site in New Zealand to host an orbital launch attempt. With the Electron launch of 21 January 2018,it became the first private spaceport to host a successful orbital launch.
The Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) is a small-lift launch vehicle developed by ISRO with payload capacity to deliver 500 kg (1,100 lb) to low Earth orbit or 300 kg (660 lb) to Sun-synchronous orbit for launching small satellites,with the capability to support multiple orbital drop-offs. SSLV is made keeping low cost,low turnaround time in mind with launch-on-demand flexibility under minimal infrastructure requirements.
