IEEE Spectrum November, 2014 - 88

DataFLoW_

the Space ruSh
Licensed and proposed
commerciaL spaceports
are popping up
across the u.s.

Rocket and spacecraft company SpaceX recently announced its plans to open a
spaceport in Texas, while Virgin Galactic is making noises that it expects to conduct a
flight into space from the Mojave Air & Space Port in California in the next several months.
But these aren't the only places where people are hoping to grab a piece of the nascent
commercial space age. The United States' Federal Aviation Administration has already
licensed a number of other spaceports, with several more locations also expressing
interest in getting licensed. Just how big the commercial space market would have to be
to support all these launch sites is an open question. -Stephen caSS

Kodiak Launch Complex
Kodiak Island, Alaska
Status: Licensed

California Spaceport
Vandenberg
Air Force Base, Calif.
Status: Licensed

Virgin Galactic is currently building
a futuristic terminal at Spaceport
America for its suborbital space
tourism business. A carrier plane
will bring the SpaceShipTwo
vehicle to an altitude of about
15 kilometers. There it will be
released and ignite its rocket
engine. Passengers will be carried
to a height of over 100 km.

Front Range Spaceport
Watkins, Colo.
Status: proposed

Mojave Air &
Space Port
Mojave, Calif.
Status: Licensed

Clinton-Sherman
Industrial Airpark
Burns Flat, Okla.
Status: Licensed

Spaceport
America
Sierra
County, N.M.
Status:
Licensed

West Texas
Spaceport
Pecos County,
Texas
Status:
proposed
Midland
International
Airport
Midland, Texas
Status: Licensed

The FAA hasn't yet licensed SpaceX to launch
rockets from Brownsville, Texas, but a positive
environmental-impact report this summer has
cleared the way for approval. SpaceX has declared
that it would like to launch both orbital (using
its Falcon rocket and Dragon spacecraft) and
suborbital missions at a rate of up to 12 per year.

88

|

nov 2014

|

north american

|

SPectrUm.ieee.orG

SpaceX
Brownsville, Texas
Status: pending

Ellington Field
Houston
Status:
proposed

Mid-Atlantic Regional
Spaceport
Wallops Island, Va.
Status: Licensed

Cecil Field Spaceport
Jacksonville, Fla.
Status: Licensed
Titusville-Cocoa
Beach Airport
Titusville, Fla.
Status: proposed
Space Florida
Cape Canaveral, Fla.
Status: Licensed
source: FederaL
aviation administration

Hawaiian Office
of Aerospace
Development
Spaceport
Kalaeloa, Hawaii
Status:
proposed

infographic by

John MacNeill



http://SPectrUm.ieee.orG

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Spectrum November, 2014

IEEE Spectrum November, 2014 - Cover1
IEEE Spectrum November, 2014 - Cover2
IEEE Spectrum November, 2014 - 1
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IEEE Spectrum November, 2014 - 88
IEEE Spectrum November, 2014 - Cover3
IEEE Spectrum November, 2014 - Cover4
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