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Spaceports are earth's central stations for space transportation.
They send vehicles and people into space and even provide
landing strips for their return.
While the Kennedy
Space Center and the Baykonur
Cosmodrome are the most famous, there are
now many other active spaceports around the globe.
Purely commercial
facilities are the newest trend in spaceports.
The boom in telecommunication satellites has driven
the demand for faster and easier access to space.
We list here various spaceports and provide information,
if available, on whether they allow the public to
tour the facilities and observe launches.
Spaceports tend to be situated in very scenic
spots that make a visit worthwhile regardless.
You can plan a vacation adventure trip to such marvelous
places as French Guiana, southern Japan, or Alaska
and include a tour of the local spaceport.
Use the schedules
here to time your visit for a launch.
A rocket launch remains one of the most impressive
spectacles of our time and worth some effort to see.
Even small sub-orbital rockets, also called sounding
rockets, give an impressive show.
The Kennedy Space Center has become one of the most
popular tourist attractions in Florida.The visitors
center, in fact, now approaches the size of a major
amusement park. Buses run frequently to KSC from hotels
in Orlando and other popular tourist areas.
Credits: Rune Stave, Andøya
Rocket Range.
A sounding rocket launch from Andoya Island in northern
Norway.
Time your next Florida vacation to coincide with
a shuttle launch. The shuttle schedules have become
much more reliable, although weather and mechanical
problems still occasionally cause postponements. Also,
check the schedules for unmanned launches which now
occur about once a month.
Other launch site info is available at
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