Spaceport
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.
[5] The world's first spaceport for orbital and human launches, the Baikonur Cosmodrome in southern Kazakhstan, started as a Soviet military rocket range in 1955.
The launch complex used, Site 1, has reached a special symbolic significance and is commonly called Gagarin's Start.
In response to the early Soviet successes, the United States built up a major spaceport complex at Cape Canaveral in Florida.
In principle, advantages of high altitude launch are reduced vertical distance to travel and a thinner atmosphere for the rocket to penetrate.
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 as intercontinental ballistic missile ranges, which are not always physically ideal sites for launch.
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.
[8] Planned sites of spaceports for sub-orbital tourist spaceflight often make use of existing ground infrastructure, including runways.
The space tourism industry (see List of private spaceflight companies) is being targeted by spaceports in numerous locations worldwide.
4 Qaem 100 The following table shows spaceports with documented achieved launches of humans to at least 100 km altitude, starting from a horizontal runway.
[34] Space launch facilities have been colonial developments and have also been impacting its surroundings by destroying or polluting their environment,[35][36] creating precarious cleanup situations.
