Spaceport

A spaceport or cosmodrome (Russian: космодром) is a site for launching (or receiving) spacecraft, by analogy with seaport for ships or 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'.

The term rocket launch site is used for any facility from which rockets are launched. It may contain one or more launch pads or suitable sites to mount a transportable launch pad. It is typically surrounded by a large safety area, often called a rocket range or missile range. The range includes the area over which launched rockets are expected to fly, and within which some components of the rockets may land. Tracking stations are sometimes located in the range to assess the progress of the launches.

Major spaceports often include more than one launch complex, which can be rocket launch sites adapted for different types of launch vehicles. (These sites can be well-separated for safety reasons.) For launch vehicles with liquid propellant, suitable storage facilities and, in some cases, production facilities are necessary. On-site processing facilities for solid propellants are also common.

A spaceport may also include runways for takeoff and landing of aircraft to support spaceport operations, or to enable support of HTHL or HTVL winged launch vehicles.

Spaceports with achieved human or satellite launches

Spaceports
Operator	Location	Spaceport	Longitude	Latitude
Australia	Australia	RAAF Woomera Range Complex	136°31'56" E	30°57'19" S
China	China	Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center	100°17'54" E	40°57'38" N
		Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center	111°36'29" E	38°50'57" N
		Xichang Satellite Launch Center	102°1'35.6" E	28°14'45.66" N
France	Algeria	Hammaguir	3°2' W	30°54' N
	Guiana	Guiana Space Centre (Kourou)	52°46'25" W	5°13'20" N
India	India	Satish Dhawan Space Centre	80°13'49.53" E	13°43'11.78" N
Iran	Iran	Semnan Space Center	53°55'20" E	35°14'5" N
Israel	Israel	Palmachim Airbase	34°41'26" E	31°53'52" N
Italy	Kenya	Broglio Space Center and San Marco Platform	40°12'45" E	2°56'18" S
Japan	Japan	Tanegashima Space Center	130°58'12" E	30°24' N
		Uchinoura Space Center	131°4'55" E	31°15'7" N
North Korea	North Korea	Sohae Satellite Launching Station	124°42'18" E	39°39'36" N
Russia	Kazakhstan	Baikonur Cosmodrome	63°18'18" E	45°57'54" N
	Russia	Kapustin Yar	45°43'54 E	48°40'4" N
		Plesetsk Cosmodrome	40°34'40" E	62°55'32" N
		Svobodny Cosmodrome	128° E	51°42' N
		White Sea	37°30' E	65°30' N
		Dombarovsky Air Base (Yasny)	59°50'32" E	51°5'38" N
South Korea	South Korea	Naro Space Center	127°32'6" E	34°25'55" N
United States	Marshall Islands	Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site (Kwajalein)	167°44' E	8°43' N
	United States	Cape Canaveral Space Force Station	80°34'40" W	28°29'20" N
		Kennedy Space Center	80°39'3" W	28°31'27" N
		Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport	75°28'41" W	37°50'36" N
		Odyssey (mobile launch platform)
		Pacific Spaceport Complex (Kodiak)	152°20'16" W	57°26'9" N
		Vandenberg Space Force Base	120°34'5" W	34°43'58" N
		Wallops Flight Facility	75°27'26" W	37°56'19" N

See also

Earth spaceports in Orbiter2016