From airport to 'spaceport': Spaceport list grows

Launches are the basis of all space activity. However, an enormous infrastructure and preparation is necessary, and spaceports are capable of processing a large part of this infrastructure in a concentrated and combined manner at the same geographical area . Therefore, the possession of a spaceport on its own soil is a determining factor for decisive participation in the strategic and economic activity of the global space industry.

A spaceport is the geographic space chosen to carry out the development of projects of this caliber, especially the launch phase. This generally includes all activities and operations until the spacecraft is stabilized in its orbital position final, including all support activities. In addition to the final launch phase, activities in the development, manufacturing, test and maintenance phases may be carried out at the space center. Most orbital space launches have been carried out from terrestrial spaceports, but it is possible to do so from seaports.

A report report from the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) dedicated to spaceports recalled in 2019 that these were born linked to missile testing and some have continued to be linked to the military sector, as is the case of the satellite launch center in Wenchang (China), which shares facilities with a military base of the People's Liberation Army (PLA). Also, more than 60 years ago, the Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite into orbit from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, using a derivative of its R-7 rocket model , considered the first intercontinental ballistic missile. Historically, many of these early spaceports were built in secret to develop this subject missile at the height of the Cold War, so there have probably been projects whose data remain unknown.

CSIS's report lists 22 active orbital spaceports (those that have carried out at least one successful orbital launch) and five inactive spaceports (those that have carried out orbital launch activities in the past, but have not done so for at least the last ten years). To this can be added the five suborbital spaceports that are operational today and are likely to be able to perform orbital launches in the future. CSIS believes that another fifteen spaceports, based on existing projects, could be added in the medium term.

Now, the construction of a spaceport is a project major undertaking, subject to a detailed study of site conditions and a number of factors affecting space launches. This includes geographic and political considerations.

Geographical considerations

Within geographical considerations, latitude plays a role core topic. A leave latitude and, consequently, proximity to the Earth's equator, greatly reduces the distance to the different orbits, and the amount of fuel and power needed to put an object into orbit. This is why the member countries of the European Space Agency benefit from the existence of the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana, located only 5.2˚N from the equator, being the closest to this active terrestrial centerline. Rockets launched from this center take advantage of the Earth's rotational speed to achieve effective results with less effort.

Launches in an easterly direction are also core topic to take full advantage of the Earth's rotational force. Therefore, those spaceports capable of carrying out these launches freely and without impediments of any kind subject (such as population centers or the presence of another state to the east) will make the most of this natural force of our planet. This will undoubtedly translate into cost reductions, since the fuel and power required will also be much lower. This subject of launches is estimated to give the rockets an additional 1,650 km/h eastward thrust at the Kourou spaceport. However, not all orbits require an eastward launch. For example, launches of objects to other orbits, such as polar orbits (where satellites travel over the north and south poles) or retrograde orbits (where satellites travel in the direction opposite to the Earth's rotation), benefit from north/south and west launches, respectively. Therefore, the geographic status of a spaceport may be more or less beneficial, depending on the goal of the mission statement.

Another factor core topic to consider is the existence of a place available to drop the consumed rocket stages, or its fuel, without causing damage. Therefore, spaceports must be built in areas where there are no nearby population centers, nor flora and fauna that increase the risk factors. In addition, there is a need for favorable weather conditions. In 1996, a Long March 3B rocket from the satellite launch center in Xinchang (China) crashed near a small village, killing six people. This disaster is considered one of the worst space launch accidents in history. The proximity of populated areas is a notorious problem of the location of this Chinese port, to the point of threatening the inhabitants of the remote Xinchang area several times a year.

Political considerations

Although geographic conditions are indeed important factors to take into account, assessing the political status is of equal or even greater relevance, as highlighted by CSIS.

First, spaceports must be easily accessible by the interested party or parties. The example of the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan is proof of this. Until the disintegration of the USSR, the Soviets had enjoyed unlimited access to this self-built space center. However, since the independence of this republic in 1991, Russia has been forced to pay the newly independent country around $155 million annually to maintain access. Thus, having complete jurisdiction and uncontrolled access is core topic. Another example is given by the invasion of Ukraine, after which the European Space Agency (ESA) completely cut ties with Russia's Roscosmos. This meant that projects with a Russian presence that were being carried out from the Kourou Space Center in French Guiana were cancelled, as was the case with project ExoMars (project joint ESA-Roscosmos). Russian rocket models, such as Soyuz, were also discontinued.

Secondly, consideration of neighboring airspace is mandatory. Going back to the case of the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Russia has been forced to reach an agreement with Kazakhstan to make use of its airspace. The example of Israel and its Palmajim Air Base is also worthy of accredited specialization. The Israelis are limited to putting rockets into orbit launched in a westerly direction, due to political instability and their relations with their eastern neighbors. To seek higher orbits, they must place their payloads on foreign launch systems, making them dependent. This case clearly demonstrates how a country can be greatly constrained in its space activity due to political stability factors.

Finally, public awareness is an aspect to be taken into account, being closely linked to the entrance of the commercial factor in the space sector, with companies such as SpaceX, Blue Origin or Virgin Galactic, and the existence of more and more initiatives that seek to debate on the future of space and its regulation. States are also seeking public acquiescence with their space projects, which require significant budgetary allocations.

World spaceports

At present, from agreement with the above-mentioned list, there are 22 active spaceports: five in the United States, four in China, three in Russia, two in Japan and one each in North Korea, South Korea, French Guiana, Kazakhstan, India, Iran, Israel and New Zealand.

The five most used spaceports in the world are Kourou (French Guiana), Cape Canaveral/Kennedy Space Center (Florida), Vandenverg (California), Baikonur (Kazakhstan) and Plesetsk (Russia).

In addition, there are five ports categorized as inactive, as they have not carried out any orbital launches in the last ten years, located in Russia, Kenya, Algeria and Australia. The Luigi Broglio Space Center, located in Kenya and operated by NASA and the Sapienza University of Rome, was falling into disuse due to political instability in East Africa. The Woomera Missile Range in Australia is currently inactive. However, it is being considered as an option for commercial space launches by private companies such as Kistler Aerospace, SpaceX and Virgin Galactic.

Other centers are likely to join the list. As CSIS points out, on the one hand, there is the granting of 'commercial spaceport' licenses by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to seven locations, located in Colorado, Houston, Texas, California, Oklahoma and New Mexico. On the other hand, spaceports that have already carried out successful suborbital operations have a good chance of reaching orbit in the future. These are facilities located in Brazil, Norway, Georgia (United States) and North Korea, as well as the one operated by the private U.S. company Blue Origin in Texas.

It is relevant to mention the case of Brazil, with the Alcantara Space Center, located at only 2.4˚N. Being practically on the same equatorial line, should fill in a successful orbital space launch take place in the future, this center would become the lowest latitude in the world, surpassing that of Kourou in French Guiana. Finally, several proposals have been submitted for future projects, including centers in the United States (Alaska), Australia, the United Kingdom and Portugal (Azores islands).

The Spanish case

Spain does not appear here because its projects are for the moment on the suborbital horizon. In October 2023, the private business PLD Space launched the Miura 1 rocket from the small center of El Arenosillo, in the province of Huelva. It is planned that this will evolve into the Miura 5, to be able to place satellites in orbit, in a mission statement planned for 2025 to be launched from Kourou.

At the time, Spain tried to get the European Space Agency to choose the Canary Islands, instead of French Guiana, as ESA's launch base. But France, with weight in the European aerospace industry, asserted its possession of French Guiana. According to Ignacio Arqueta, who was then the director of the National Institute for Aerospace Technology (INTA), Spain drew up a "completeproject " for the development of a spaceport on El Hierro, the southernmost island of the Canary Islands and far enough away from Morocco to allow launches in an easterly direction. El Hierro is at the same northern latitude as Cape Canaveral.

However, "local political difficulties paralyzed a great future project in which a lot of study time, development and economic effort had been invested". "Spain could have had the European launch center, close to the European continent and not as far away as Guyana; everything that has been developed in and for Kourou by ESA could have been had in our territory and it would have been a very important engine for the development of our industry," lamented Arqueta in a contribution to a 2015 publication of the Ministry of Defense.

From airport to spaceport

The proliferation of actors, with a growing issue of private companies entering a business previously reserved to states because it was not such, and the multiplication of the issue of launches, facilitated by the cheapening and technical improvement of rockets -nowadays already partially reusable-, have created the need for more points from which to operate space missions.

The trivialization of space travel, both manned and unmanned, is on the way to making the spaceport as common, if not as numerous, as the airports we know today.