Spacecraft and Launch Vehicles

Abstract

The term ‘spaceport’ encompasses a broad variety of facilities (Fig. 5.1). Some spaceports are used to launch large rockets into Earth orbit, some of which carry their payloads into deep space while others carry probes and yet others ferry cargo and/or astronauts. Then there are spaceports that have been developed for launching jet-like spacecraft from runways for trips into suborbital space. And at the most basic level there are the spaceports that simply support short flights with small rockets. But one factor common to all spaceports is that each is the location where space launch vehicles and their payloads are prepared and subsequently launched. As of October 2016 there are eight commercially licensed spaceports in the United States, but the regulations that governed the application process (14 CFR Part 420) were developed at a time when most launch operators were in the business of launching orbital launch vehicles that operated from federal launch ranges. But since those regulations came into effect the launch vehicle arena has changed significantly. Perhaps the most notable change has been with the arrival of suborbital reusable launch vehicles (sRLV) and the development of private launch sites such as Blue Origin’s remote location in Van Horn, Texas. Since spaceport design is driven largely by the types of launch vehicles being launched, it is useful to know what capabilities these vehicles have and the facilities required to support their launch and recovery. To that end, what follows is a synopsis of some of the current crop of orbital and suborbital vehicles around the world.