Aspaceport orcosmodrome is a site for launching or receivingspacecraft, by analogy to aseaport for ships or anairport for aircraft. The wordspaceport—and even more socosmodrome—has traditionally referred to sites capable of launching spacecraft intoEarth's orbit or on interplanetary trajectories.[1] However, rocket launch sites forsub-orbital spaceflights are also sometimes called spaceports, especially as new and proposed facilities for suborbitalcommercial spaceflight are often branded as "spaceports".Space stations and proposed future lunar bases are also sometimes referred to as spaceports, particularly when envisioned as nodes for further interplanetary travel.[2]
Spaceports are evolving beyond traditional government-run complexes into multi-functional aerospace hubs, increasingly driven byprivate companies such asSpaceX,Blue Origin, andVirgin Galactic. A prominent example isStarbase, a private spaceport operated by SpaceX inBoca Chica, Texas. Starbase serves as the primary development and launch site forStarship, a fully reusable spacecraft designed for missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. The facility includes rocket production, launch, and landing infrastructure, and in May 2025, it was officially incorporated as amunicipality in Texas—marking the first time a spaceport has become its own city. Starbase is now both a spaceport and a small residential and industrial community, primarily supporting SpaceX operations.
The termrocket launch site refers more broadly to any facility from which rockets are launched. Such facilities typically include one or morelaunch pads, often surrounded by a safety buffer called a rocket range or missile range, which includes the area rockets are expected to fly over and where components may land. These sites may also includetracking stations to monitor launch progress.[3]
Major spaceports often feature multiple launch complexes, adapted for differentlaunch vehicle types. For rockets usingliquid propellants, storage and sometimes production facilities are necessary, whilesolid-propellant operations often include on-site processing. Some spaceports also incorporaterunways to supporthorizontal takeoff and landing (HTHL) or horizontal takeoff and vertical landing (HTVL) vehicles.
In January 2025, traffic congestion was reported at U.S. rocket-launch sites due to the rising number of launches, primarily from companies like SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Virgin Galactic. Three sites inFlorida andCalifornia currently handle most U.S. rocket launches.[4]
Peenemünde, Germany, where theV-2, the first rocket to reach space in June 1944, was launched
The firstrockets to reach space wereV-2 rockets launched fromPeenemünde,Germany in 1944 duringWorld War II.[5] After the war, 70 complete V-2 rockets were brought toWhite Sands for test launches, with 47 of them reaching altitudes between 100 km and 213 km.[6]
The world's first spaceport for orbital and human launches, theBaikonur Cosmodrome in southernKazakhstan, started as a Soviet military rocket range in 1955. It achieved the first orbital flight (Sputnik 1) in October 1957. The exact location of the cosmodrome was initially held secret. Guesses to its location were misdirected by a name in common with a mining town 320 km away. The position became known in 1957 outside the Soviet Union only afterU-2 planes had identified the site by following railway lines in theKazakh SSR, although Soviet authorities did not confirm the location for decades.[7]
The Baikonur Cosmodrome achieved the first launch of a human into space (Yuri Gagarin) in 1961. The launch complex used, Site 1, has reached a special symbolic significance and is commonly calledGagarin's Start. Baikonur was the primary Soviet cosmodrome, and is still frequently used by Russia under a lease arrangement with Kazakhstan.
In response to the early Soviet successes, the United States built up a major spaceport complex at Cape Canaveral in Florida. A large number of uncrewed flights, as well as the early human flights, were carried out atCape Canaveral Space Force Station. For the Apollo programme, an adjacent spaceport,Kennedy Space Center, was constructed, and achieved the first crewed mission to the lunar surface (Apollo 11) in July 1969. It was the base for allSpace Shuttle launches and most of their runway landings. For details on the launch complexes of the two spaceports, seeList of Cape Canaveral and Merritt Island launch sites.
TheGuiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana, is France's spaceport, with satellite launches that benefit from the location 5 degrees north of the equator.
Breaking with tradition, in June 2004 on a runway atMojave Air and Space Port, California, a human was for the first time launched to space in aprivately funded, suborbital spaceflight, that was intended to pave the way for future commercial spaceflights. The spacecraft,SpaceShipOne, was launched by a carrier airplane taking off horizontally.
At Cape Canaveral,SpaceX in 2015 made the first successful landing and recovery of a first stage used in a vertical satellite launch.[8]
Rockets can most easily reach satellite orbits if launched near theequator in an easterly direction, as this maximizes use of theEarth's rotational speed (465 m/s at the equator). Such launches also provide a desirable orientation for arriving at ageostationary orbit. Forpolar orbits andMolniya orbits this does not apply.
In principle, advantages of high altitude launch are reduced vertical distance to travel and a thinner atmosphere for the rocket to penetrate. However, altitude of the launch site is not a driving factor in spaceport placement because most of thedelta-v for a launch is spent on achieving the required horizontalorbital speed. The small gain from a few kilometers of extra altitude does not usually off-set the logistical costs of ground transport in mountainous terrain.
Many spaceports have been placed at existing military installations, such asintercontinental ballistic missile ranges, which are not always physically ideal sites for launch.
A rocket launch site is built as far as possible away from major population centers in order to not inconvenience their inhabitants withnoise pollution and other undesired industrial activity, as well as mitigate risk to bystanders should a rocket experience a catastrophic failure. In many cases a launch site is built close to major bodies of water to ensure that no components are shed over populated areas, be it by staging or an in-flight failure. Typically a spaceport site is large enough that, should a vehicle explode, it will not endanger human lives or adjacent launch pads.[9]
Planned sites of spaceports forsub-orbital tourist spaceflight often make use of existing ground infrastructure, including runways. The nature of the local view from 100 km (62 mi) altitude is also a factor to consider.
The establishment of spaceports for tourist trips raises legal issues, which are only beginning to be addressed. For example, in Virginia, spaceflight companies are not liable for any accidents in spaceflight, as long as such a warning is displayed to the passengers.[10][11]
The following is a table of spaceports and launch complexes for vertical launchers with documented achieved launches of humans to space (more than 100 km (62 mi) altitude). The sorting order is spaceport by spaceport according to the time of the first human launch.
† Three of the Soyuz missions were uncrewed and are not counted (Soyuz 2,Soyuz 20,Soyuz 34).
‡STS-51-L (Challenger) failed to reach orbit and is not counted.STS-107 (Columbia) reached orbit and is therefore included in the count (disaster struck on re-entry).
The following is a table of spaceports with a documented achieved launch to orbit. The table is sorted according to the time of the first launch that achieved satellite orbit insertion. The first column gives the geographical location. Operations from a different country are indicated in the fourth column. A launch is counted as one also in cases where the payload consists of multiple satellites.
The following table shows spaceports with documented achieved launches of humans to at least 100 km altitude, starting from a horizontal runway. All the flights weresub-orbital.
Spaceports have been proposed for locations on theMoon,Mars, orbiting the Earth, at Sun-Earth and Earth-MoonLagrange points, and at other locations in theSolar System. Human-tended outposts on the Moon or Mars, for example, will be spaceports by definition.[33] The 2012 Space Studies Program of theInternational Space University studied the economic benefit of a network of spaceports throughout the solar system beginning from Earth and expanding outwardly in phases, within its team project Operations And Service Infrastructure for Space (OASIS).[34] Its analysis claimed that the first phase, placing the "Node 1" spaceport with space tug services inlow Earth orbit (LEO), would be commercially profitable and reduce transportation costs togeosynchronous orbit by as much as 44% (depending on the launch vehicle). The second phase would add a Node 2 spaceport on the lunar surface to provide services includinglunar ice mining and delivery of rocketpropellants back to Node 1. This would enable lunar surface activities and further reduce transportation costs within and out fromcislunar space. The third phase would add a Node 3 spaceport on the Martian moonPhobos to enable refueling and resupply prior to Mars surface landings, missions beyond Mars, and return trips to Earth. In addition to propellant mining and refueling, the network of spaceports could provide services such as power storage and distribution, in-space assembly and repair of spacecraft, communications relay, shelter, construction and leasing of infrastructure, maintaining spacecraft positioned for future use, and logistics.[35]
Space launch facilities have been colonial developments and have also been impacting its surroundings by destroying or polluting their environment,[36][37] creating precarious cleanup situations.[38]
^Roberts, Thomas G. (2019)."Spaceports of the World".Center for Strategic and International Studies.Archived from the original on 7 August 2020. Retrieved1 July 2020.
^Kodiak Readies for Quick Launch,Aviation Week, April 2010, accessed 26 April 2010. "Alaska's remote Kodiak Launch Complex is state-of-the-art, has a perfect mission record, and will soon be able to launch a satellite-carrying rocket within 24 hours of mission go-ahead."
