National Spaceport Network Development Plan
SPfciCEPORT ALLIANCE National Spaceport Network Development Plan Prepared by the Global Spaceport Alliance for the Office of Spaceports Office of Commercial Space Transportation Federal Aviation Administration June 1, 2020 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Space has become an indispensable part of everyday life in the 21st century, supporting not only our nation's military and intelligence capabilities, but also communications, navigation, weather forecasting, agriculture, financial transactions, disaster response, and even entertainment. The Eastern Range, located at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, and the Western Range, located at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, have served as the military's primary launch sites for space launches and missile tests for more than 60 years. Many NASA and commercial space missions have also been conducted from those locations. Recently however, a number of commercial spaceports have been established by state and local governments, or by private companies, based on a desire to take advantage of the growing space economy, to minimize the federal regulatory burden, and to provide additional launch opportunities for civil and commercial space missions. The development of a National Spaceport Network, consisting of current and prospective commercial spaceports, government-owned-and-operated launch & landing sites, and privately- owned-and-operated launch & landing sites, offers an opportunity to increase the safety, capacity, efficiency, and resiliency of the nation's space operations. Such a network could provide the framework for formal or informal public-private partnerships between federal, state, and local governments; the aerospace industry; and academia. A key component of the operation of a successful network of spaceports is federal funding for infrastructure development.
[Show full text]