Issue #1(23) 2020 Astronautics

European spaceports compete for recognition and business

Alan Perera-Webb Commercial Space Technologies, London, UK
Richard Osborne Commercial Space Technologies, London, UK
Vadim Zakirov Commercial Space Technologies, London, UK

Recent growth in the space transportation business, fuelled by interest and investment from private companies, has led to the development of a number of spaceports in the United States. But what about Europe? This article, based on a report by Commercial Space Technologies, discusses the options.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), nine private US companies currently hold 26 active commercial licenses granted by the US Office of Commercial Space Transportation. Their commercial space transportation activities are supported by 11 commercial domestic launch sites (also known as spaceports) and one overseas site in New Zealand.

Following the lead set principally by the US, other countries around the world are starting to commercialise their space programmes, in the hope of reducing associated costs and acquiring a larger share of the rapidly expanding space market.

The majority of European orbital space transportation activities are carried out by Ariane, Soyuz and Vega launchers from the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana, on the Atlantic coast of South America. On the one hand, the launch site’s remoteness is advantageous for flight safety and its near-equatorial location achieves payload gains from the Earth’s rotation. On the other hand, this site is distant from Europe, and thus incapable of providing rapid and affordable access to space for many commercial customers interested in launching small payloads (below 100 kg) or taking a tourist flight into space.

If you already have a login and password to access www.room.eu.com - Please log in to be able to read all the articles of the site.

Popular articles

See also

Astronautics

Mini space station for mice to study effects of reproduction in reduced gravity

Security

Space weather: the public & policy

Security

Exploring the problems of criminal justice in space

Popular articles

The photographs in this article are kindly reproduced by permission of Max Alexander and are taken from his ‘Our Fragile Space’ exhibition - see page 60. Environment

Space sustainability imperative

Security

Original Sin - Power, Technology and War in Outer Space