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75-691: The Clinton-Sherman Industrial Airpark , also known as the Oklahoma Air & Space Port is a spaceport in Washita County, Oklahoma , near the town of Burns Flat . The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) granted a license to the site in June 2006 to the Oklahoma Space Industry Development Authority (OSIDA) to "oversee the takeoff and landing of suborbital, reusable launch vehicles." It also boasts

150-677: A 38th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron RB-50 returned fire on a Soviet MiG-15, while a 343d Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron RB-50 was shot down over the Sea of Japan 2 days after the Korean Armistice, while on 7 November 1954, an RB-29 was shot down near Hokkaido Island in northern Japan. By the time of 27 July 1953 Korean War cease-fire, SAC B-29s had flown over 21,000 sorties and dropped nearly 167,000 tons of bombs, with thirty-four B-29s lost in combat and forty-eight B-29s were lost to damage or crashes. SAC's first jet strategic bomber

225-657: A bomber gap grew after the 1955 Soviet Aviation Day and the Soviets rejected the " Open Skies " Treaty proposed at the Geneva Summit on 21 July 1955. US bomber strength peaked with "over 2,500 bombers" after production "of over 2,000 B-47s and almost 750 B-52s" (circa 1956, 50% of SAC aircraft & 80% of SAC bombers were B-47s). In an effort to concurrently enhance its reconnaissance capabilities, SAC also received several RB-57D Canberra aircraft in April 1956 , with

300-585: A "scathing" 1948 Lindbergh review of SAC operations in the air and at six SAC bases, General Kenney was removed as Commanding General on 15 October 1948 and replaced on 19 October 1948 by 8AF's commander, Lieutenant General Curtis LeMay . Upon LeMay's assumption of command, SAC had only 60 nuclear-capable aircraft, none of which possessed a realistic long range capability against the Soviet Union. LeMay proposed that SAC should be able to deliver 80% of its weapons in one mission. The B-29D, which had become

375-478: A 50,000 square-foot (4,500 m²) manufacturing facility with loading docks adjacent to a railway spur. The facility operated for a number years as part of the United States Navy and United States Air Force . Closed under the name Clinton-Sherman Air Force Base , the facility has been redeveloped over the years to its present form. The location of the former naval air station World War II runways to

450-799: A Node 3 spaceport on the Martian moon Phobos to enable refueling and resupply prior to Mars surface landings, missions beyond Mars, and return trips to Earth. In addition to propellant mining and refueling, the network of spaceports could provide services such as power storage and distribution, in-space assembly and repair of spacecraft, communications relay, shelter, construction and leasing of infrastructure, maintaining spacecraft positioned for future use, and logistics. Space launch facilities have been colonial developments and have also been impacting its surroundings by destroying or polluting their environment, creating precarious cleanup situations. Strategic Air Command Strategic Air Command ( SAC )

525-753: A SAC numbered air force permanently stationed in Europe, having tactical and administrative control of the forward-deployed aircraft and units. Beginning in 1955, SAC also moved a portion of its bomber and aerial refueling aircraft to 24-hour alert status, either on the ground or airborne. By 1960, fully one third of SAC's bombers and aerial refueling aircraft were on 24-hour alert, with those crews and aircraft not already airborne ready to take off from designated alert sites at their respective bases within fifteen minutes. Bomber aircraft on ground alert were armed with nuclear weapons while aerial tanker aircraft were sufficiently fueled to provide maximum combat fuel offload to

600-501: A SAC Liaison Team was also located at the NORAD Command Post at Ent AFB , Colorado, and the two commands agreed that direct land line communications should connect SAC bases with NORAD's Air Defense Direction Centers . Also in the late 1950s, SAC continued to enhance its intelligence collection activities and develop innovative means of improving the survivability of its forces to surprise attack. From 1958 to about 1967,

675-678: A command and morale plummeted. As a result, by the end of 1947, only two of SAC's eleven groups were combat ready. After the 1948 Bikini Atoll nuclear tests, the "Half Moon" Joint Emergency War Plan developed in May 1948 proposed dropping 50 atomic bombs on twenty Soviet cities, with President Harry S. Truman approving "Half Moon" during the June 1948 Berlin Blockade , (Truman sent B-29s to Europe in July). SAC also ordered special ELINT RB-29s to detect improved Soviet radars and, in cooperation with

750-493: A driving factor in spaceport placement because most of the delta-v for a launch is spent on achieving the required horizontal orbital speed . The small gain from a few kilometers of extra altitude does not usually off-set the logistical costs of ground transport in mountainous terrain. Many spaceports have been placed at existing military installations, such as intercontinental ballistic missile ranges, which are not always physically ideal sites for launch. A rocket launch site

825-634: A new SAC installation specifically designed to accommodate the B-36 Peacemaker . Fort Dix AAF , New Jersey (later McGuire AFB ); Spokane AAF , Washington (later Fairchild AFB ); and Wendover Field , Utah (later Wendover AFB ) were also transferred to SAC between 30 April and 1 September 1947. Following the establishment of the USAF as a separate service, SAC bases in the United States consisted of: Those bases subsequently added to SAC in

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900-471: A table of spaceports and launch complexes for vertical launchers with documented achieved launches of humans to space (more than 100 km (62 mi) altitude). The sorting order is spaceport by spaceport according to the time of the first human launch. † Three of the Soyuz missions were uncrewed and are not counted ( Soyuz 2 , Soyuz 20 , Soyuz 34 ). ‡ STS-51-L ( Challenger ) failed to reach orbit and

975-558: A tenant activity until assuming control of Andrews Field in October 1946. SAC initially totaled 37,000 USAAF personnel. In addition to Bolling Field and, seven months later, Andrews Field, SAC also assumed responsibility for: SAC also had seven additional CAF bases transferred on 21 March 1946 which remained in SAC through the 1947 establishment of the U.S. Air Force as an independent service. Those installations included: On 31 March 1946,

1050-492: Is a major benefit for use as a spaceport. For the 12-month period ending June 30, 2020, the airport is on track for 30,000 aircraft operations, an average of 82 per day: 90% military and 10% general aviation . The location is a 2,700 acre (10.8 km²) facility located near transportation corridors such as Interstate 35 and Interstate 40 . There are 96 acres (384,000 m²) of parking space able to support large commercial aircraft . There are six commercial aircraft hangars and

1125-454: Is at the site of a public airfield known as Clinton-Sherman Airport ( IATA : CSM , ICAO : KCSM ). The airport covers an area of 1,690 acres (680 ha) which contains two concrete paved runways : 17R/35L measuring 13,503 x 300 ft (91 m) with 1,000-foot overruns at each end for a total of 15,503 (4725.3 meters) and 17L/35R measuring 5,193 x 75 ft. (1,583 x 23 m). The larger of these, at 13,503 x 300 ft (4,116 x 91.4 m)

1200-566: Is built as far as possible away from major population centers in order to mitigate risk to bystanders should a rocket experience a catastrophic failure. In many cases a launch site is built close to major bodies of water to ensure that no components are shed over populated areas. Typically a spaceport site is large enough that, should a vehicle explode, it will not endanger human lives or adjacent launch pads. Planned sites of spaceports for sub-orbital tourist spaceflight often make use of existing ground infrastructure, including runways. The nature of

1275-452: Is not counted. STS-107 ( Columbia ) reached orbit and is therefore included in the count (disaster struck on re-entry). Crewed Missions failed to reach Kármán line: Soyuz T-10a (1983) STS-51-L (1986) Soyuz MS-10 (2018) The following is a table of spaceports with a documented achieved launch to orbit. The table is sorted according to the time of the first launch that achieved satellite orbit insertion. The first column gives

1350-875: Is recognized as one of the top ranked law enforcement driver training centers in the country, according to the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. Spaceport A spaceport or cosmodrome is a site for launching or receiving spacecraft , by analogy to a seaport for ships or an 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". Space stations and proposed future bases on

1425-506: Is the major European spaceport, with satellite launches that benefit from the location 5 degrees north of the equator. In October 2003 the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center achieved the first Chinese human spaceflight. Breaking with tradition, in June 2004 on a runway at Mojave Air and Space Port , California, a human was for the first time launched to space in a privately funded, suborbital spaceflight, that

1500-573: The 747-8 . As of February 2020, Boeing intends to utilize the facility for flight tests on their 777X model, as well as for the recertification test flights of their 737 MAX . Cessna and Honda Aircraft have also been customers. Branches of the Department of Defense—primarily the U.S. Air Force and the Navy—use the airport for the flight training of their aircrews. Premium Aerospace said in October 2022 that it would be investing $ 120 million over

1575-822: The Air University , and the Air Force Center . Strategic Air Command was originally established in the U.S. Army Air Forces on 21 March 1946 upon the redesignation of Continental Air Forces (CAF), the World War II command tasked with the air defense of the continental United States (CONUS). At the time, CAF headquarters was located at Bolling Field (later Bolling AFB ) in the District of Columbia and SAC assumed occupancy of its headquarters facilities until relocating SAC headquarters (HQ SAC) to nearby Andrews Field (later Andrews AFB ), Maryland as

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1650-600: The B-50 in December 1945, was first delivered to SAC in June 1948. This was followed by SAC's first Convair B-36 Peacemaker bomber arriving at Kirtland AFB , New Mexico in September 1948. In November 1948, LeMay had SAC's headquarters and its command post moved from Andrews AFB , Maryland to Offutt AFB , Nebraska. At Offutt, the command moved into the "A Building", a three-story facility that had previously been used by

1725-907: The C-45 Expeditor support aircraft, but by 1947 SAC had acquired an F-9C squadron consisting of twelve photo-reconnaissance variants of the B-17G Flying Fortress . An F-13 squadron, the F-13 later re-designated as the RB-29 Superfortress , was also established. SAC conducted routine aerial reconnaissance missions near the Soviet borders or near the 12-mile international waters limit, although some missions actually penetrated into Soviet airspace. The flight profiles of these missions—above 30,000 feet and in excess of 300 knots—made interception by Soviet air forces difficult until

1800-454: The Earth's rotational speed (465 m/s at the equator). Such launches also provide a desirable orientation for arriving at a geostationary orbit . For polar orbits and Molniya orbits this does not apply. In principle, advantages of high altitude launch are reduced vertical distance to travel and a thinner atmosphere for the rocket to penetrate. However, altitude of the launch site is not

1875-751: The Glenn L. Martin Company during World War II. Concurrent with the establishment of this new headquarters facility, Lemay also increased SAC Radar Bomb Scoring (RBS) runs the same year to 12,084. SAC also enhanced its organic fighter escort capability by initiating replacement of its World War II vintage piston-engine F-51D Mustang and F-82E Twin Mustang fighter aircraft with F-84G Thunderjets . In January 1949, SAC conducted simulated raids on Wright-Patterson AFB , Ohio. Assessments of these simulated raids by "...LeMay's entire command...were appalling", despite

1950-840: The Moon , Mars , orbiting the Earth, at Sun-Earth and Earth-Moon Lagrange points , and at other locations in the Solar System . Human-tended outposts on the Moon or Mars, for example, will be spaceports by definition. The 2012 Space Studies Program of the International Space University studied the economic benefit of a network of spaceports throughout the solar system beginning from Earth and expanding outwardly in phases, within its team project Operations And Service Infrastructure for Space (OASIS). Its analysis claimed that

2025-735: The Oklahoma Highway Patrol , Oklahoma Department of Public Safety . Currently referred to as 'Building 120', the former bunker facility houses OHP Academy staff and cadets during the driving training portion of 'Patrol Schools'. The annual 'Cadet Lawman Academy' (sponsored by the OSTA, Elks Lodge, and C.U.D.D.), is also located at the same facility during the summer, which provides a 1-week program for high school students. The surrounding facility and tarmac incorporates over 12 miles of various roadways and courses, used for precision driving and emergency vehicle operation training. This facility

2100-732: The VIII Bomber Command , which conducted the first European "heavy bomber" attack by the USAAF on 17 August 1942 ; the Ninth Air Force , which conducted the first Operation Crossbow "No-Ball" missions on 5 December 1943; the Twelfth Air Force ; and the Fifteenth Air Force , which executed bombing operations on 2 November 1943 during Operation Pointblank . The Operation Overlord air plan for

2175-667: The 1957 Gaither Commission identified, "...little likelihood of SAC's bombers surviving [a Soviet first strike] since there was no way to detect an incoming attack until the first [Soviet nuclear weapon] warhead landed." As a result, SAC's bombers and tankers began sitting armed ground alert at their respective bases on 1 Oct 57. In another organizational change during this time period, SAC's fighter escort wings were transferred to Tactical Air Command (TAC) during 1957 and 1958. Finally, during January 1958's Exercise Fir Fly , SAC "faker" aircraft (twelve B-47s) simulated bombing strikes against metropolitan areas and military installations in

2250-427: The 51st Air Force Base Unit, SAC also monitored radioactive fallout from Soviet atomic testing on Novaya Zemlya . In terms of overall Air Force basing and infrastructure, SAC continued to acquire an ever-increasing share of USAF infrastructure and the USAF associated budget. In 1947, before the USAF was established as an independent service, construction commenced on Limestone AAF , Maine (later renamed Loring AFB ),

2325-436: The A Building at Offutt AFB to Building 500 in 1957. The underground nuclear bunker had 24-inch thick walls and base floor, 10-inch thick intermediate floors, and 24-to-42-inch thick roof. It also contained a war room with six 16-foot data display screens and the capacity to sustain up to 800 people underground for two weeks. The below ground bunker portion of the headquarters complex also contained an IBM 704 computer, which

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2400-948: The Air Staff to allow SAC to approve nuclear targets, and he continued refusing to submit war plans for JCS review, which the JCS eventually came to accept (of 20,000 candidates in 1960, SAC designated 3,560 as bombing targets—mostly Soviet air defense: airfields and suspected missile sites.) Although experimented with prior to World War II, SAC refined aerial refueling to a fine art. SAC's in-flight refueling mission began in July 1952 when its 31st Fighter-Escort Wing refueled sixty F-84G Thunderjets from Turner AFB , Georgia to Travis AFB , California non-stop with fuel from twenty-four KB-29P Superfortresses modified into aerial tankers. Exercise FOX PETER ONE followed with 31st FEW fighters being refueled Hickam AFB en route to Hawaii. On 15 March 1953,

2475-610: The Baltic. Since it was designed as a medium bomber, SAC's B-47 Stratojet traded speed for range. Because of this shorter range, and in order to better enable the B-47 fleet to reach its target sets in the Soviet Union, SAC routinely deployed its US-based B-47 wings to overseas forward operating bases in North Africa, Spain and Turkey. This program, in effect from 1957 to 1966, was known as "Reflex" with Sixteenth Air Force (16AF),

2550-406: The Moon are sometimes called spaceports, in particular if intended as a base for further journeys. 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

2625-538: The Oklahoma Spaceport in 2004 through 2009, including tests of a VTVL Lander and a Rocket Racer for the now-defunct Rocket Racing League . Large aerospace companies are attracted to the site not only because of the length and size of the runway, but also the fact that there are no obstructions around either end. Boeing in 2013 used the facility for testing an autonomous landing system for the 737 , and in 2015 for proficiency training and flight testing with

2700-602: The SAC deputy commander, Major General McMullen, having instructed all bomber units to improve their effectiveness. To motivate crews and improve operational effectiveness command-wide, SAC established a competition, the first so-called "Bomb Comp" in 1948. Winners of this inaugural event were the 43rd Bombardment Group (unit) and, for aircrew award, a B-29 team from the 509th Bombardment Group . Given its global operating environment, SAC also opened its own survival school at Camp Carson , Colorado in 1949, later moving this school to Stead AFB , Nevada in 1952 before transferring

2775-791: The Soviet's 1948 introduction of the MiG-15 jet fighter. Project Nanook , the Cold War's first Top Secret reconnaissance effort, used the first RB-29 missions for mapping and visual reconnaissance in the Arctic and along the northern Soviet coast. Later missions were Project LEOPARD along the Chukchi Peninsula , followed by Projects RICKRACK, STONEWORK, and COVERALLS. In 1946, the US possessed only nine atomic bombs and twenty-seven B-29s capable at any one time of delivering them. Furthermore, it

2850-467: The U.S. Air Force, SAC was disestablished as both a Specified Command and as a MAJCOM , and its personnel and equipment redistributed among the Air Combat Command (ACC), Air Mobility Command (AMC), Pacific Air Forces (PACAF), United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE), and Air Education and Training Command (AETC), while SAC's central headquarters complex at Offutt AFB , Nebraska

2925-593: The USAF's aerial refueling aircraft. SAC primarily consisted of the Second Air Force (2AF), Eighth Air Force (8AF) and the Fifteenth Air Force (15AF), while SAC headquarters (HQ SAC) included Directorates for Operations & Plans, Intelligence, Command & Control, Maintenance, Training, Communications, and Personnel. At a lower echelon, SAC headquarters divisions included Aircraft Engineering, Missile Concept, and Strategic Communications. In 1992, as part of an overall post-Cold War reorganization of

3000-417: The United States included: In addition to bases under its operational control, SAC also maintained tenant wings at several bases under the control of other USAF MAJCOMs. These non-SAC bases with SAC tenants included: SAC also often maintained a tenant presence at former SAC bases that the command subsequently transferred and relinquished to other MAJCOMs, to include but not limited to: SAC transferred to

3075-479: The United States Air Force on 26 September 1947, concurrent with the latter's establishment as a separate military service. Units directly under SAC HQ included the 8AF and 15AF, as well as the 311th Air Division , 4th Fighter Wing , 82nd Fighter Wing , 307th Bomb Wing , and two reconnaissance units, the 311th Reconnaissance Wing and the 46th Reconnaissance Squadron . The 56th Fighter Wing

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3150-682: The United States defended by Air Defense Command's 28th Air Division . After SAC's 1st Missile Division was activated on 18 March 1957, SAC HQ established the Office of Assistant CINCSAC (SAC MIKE) at the Air Force Ballistic Missile Division in California on 1 January 1958. SAC MIKE was responsible for missile development liaison, the intermediate range Jupiter and Thor missiles having been transferred to SAC for alert in 1958. Beginning on 1 February 1958,

3225-715: The United States during World War II included General Carl Spaatz 's European command, United States Strategic Air Forces in Europe (USSTAF), consisting of the 8AF and 15AF, and the United States Strategic Air Forces in the Pacific (USASTAF) and its Twentieth Air Force (20AF). The U.S. Army Air Forces ' first mission in the Strategic Bombing Campaign in the European Theater during World War II included

3300-559: The United States. This format would continue through successive SAC Bombing and Navigation Competitions through the remainder of the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Commencing in the late 1950s, in addition to representation from every SAC wing with a bombing and/or air refueling mission, later SAC competitions would also include participating bomber and aerial refueling units from the Royal Air Force 's Bomber Command and (after 30 April 1968) its successor, RAF Strike Command . It

3375-646: The [deterrence] stick". Initial SAC B-29 successes against North Korea in the summer of 1950 were countered by subsequent Soviet MiG-15 fighter-interceptors, and SAC's 27th Fighter Escort Wing began escorting the bombers with F–84 Thunderjets. Ground-directed bombing (GDB) was subsequently used for close air support (CAS) missions after three SAC radar bomb scoring (RBS) squadron detachments (Dets C, K, & N) arrived at Pusan in September 1950. In 1951, SAC "began to eliminate its combat groups", transferring medium bombardment groups "to Far East Air Forces (FEAF) Bomber Command for combat." In 1951, LeMay convinced

3450-690: The aircraft initially based at Turner AFB , Georgia. In 1957, these aircraft were forward deployed to Rhein-Main Air Base , West Germany, in order to conduct reconnaissance missions along the borders of the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact nations. However, an unintended consequence of this deployment was that Hawker Hunter fighters of the Royal Air Force stationed in the United Kingdom and in continental Europe often intercepted these classified RB-57 missions as they returned to Rhein-Main AB from over

3525-958: 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 horizontal takeoff and vertical landing (HTVL) winged launch vehicles. The first rockets to reach space were V-2 rockets launched from Peenemünde , Germany in 1944 during World War II . After

3600-612: The bombers. Concurrent with this increased alert posture and in order to better hone strategic bombing skillsets, the 1955 SAC Bombing and Navigation Competition was characterized by radar bomb scoring (RBS) runs on Amarillo, Denver , Salt Lake City, Kansas City, San Antonio and Phoenix; and the 1957 competition (nicknamed "Operation Longshot") had three targets: Atlanta , Kansas City, and St. Louis. This use of RBS with simulated target areas utilizing mobile and fixed bomb scoring sites adjacent to major cities, industrial areas, military installations and dedicated bombing ranges throughout

3675-458: The cosmodrome was initially held secret. Guesses to its location were misdirected by a name in common with a mining town 320 km away. The position became known in 1957 outside the Soviet Union only after U-2 planes had identified the site by following railway lines in the Kazakh SSR , although Soviet authorities did not confirm the location for decades. The Baikonur Cosmodrome achieved

3750-624: The early human flights, were carried out at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station . For the Apollo programme, an adjacent spaceport, Kennedy Space Center , was constructed, and achieved the first crewed mission to the lunar surface ( Apollo 11 ) in July 1969. It was the base for all Space Shuttle launches and most of their runway landings. For details on the launch complexes of the two spaceports, see List of Cape Canaveral and Merritt Island launch sites . The Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana,

3825-859: The fall of 1945, with the Simpson Board tasked to plan, "...the reorganization of the Army and the Air Force...". In January 1946, Generals Eisenhower and Spaatz agreed on an Air Force organization composed of the Strategic Air Command, the Air Defense Command , the Tactical Air Command , the Air Transport Command and the supporting Air Technical Service Command , Air Training Command ,

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3900-539: The first launch of a human into space ( Yuri Gagarin ) in 1961. The launch complex used, Site 1, has reached a special symbolic significance and is commonly called Gagarin's Start . Baikonur was the primary Soviet cosmodrome, and is still frequently used by Russia under a lease arrangement with Kazakhstan. In response to the early Soviet successes, the United States built up a major spaceport complex at Cape Canaveral in Florida. A large number of uncrewed flights, as well as

3975-561: The first phase, placing the "Node 1" spaceport with space tug services in low Earth orbit (LEO), would be commercially profitable and reduce transportation costs to geosynchronous orbit by as much as 44% (depending on the launch vehicle). The second phase would add a Node 2 spaceport on the lunar surface to provide services including lunar ice mining and delivery of rocket propellants back to Node 1. This would enable lunar surface activities and further reduce transportation costs within and out from cislunar space . The third phase would add

4050-407: The first space flight corridor, "The Infinity One"—which is about 152 miles long and averages about 50 miles wide—that is not in restricted airspace and does not interfere with Military Operations Areas (MOAs). The facility is an FAA licensed launch site, one of only 12 in the U.S. Individual operators must also secure a separate license in order to make space flights from the facility. The airpark

4125-445: The focus of the nation's nuclear strike capability, to the extent that Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) Publication 1259/27 on 12 December 1946 identified that, "...the 'air atomic' strategic air force should only come under the orders of the JCS." In addition to the strategic bombing mission, SAC also devoted significant resources to aerial reconnaissance. In 1946, SAC's reconnaissance aircraft inventory consisted of F-2 photo variants of

4200-581: The following additional installation was also assigned to SAC: Under the first SAC Commander in Chief , General George C. Kenney , initial units reporting to the Strategic Air Command headquarters on 21 March 1946 included the Second Air Force , the IX Troop Carrier Command and the 73d Air Division . Fifteenth Air Force was assigned to SAC on 31 March (15th AF's 263rd Army Air Force Base Unit —with SAC's radar detachments —transferred

4275-442: The geographical location. Operations from a different country are indicated in the fourth column. A launch is counted as one also in cases where the payload consists of multiple satellites. 4 Qaem 100 The following table shows spaceports with documented achieved launches of humans to at least 100 km altitude, starting from a horizontal runway. All the flights were sub-orbital . Spaceports have been proposed for locations on

4350-399: The local view from 100 km (62 mi) altitude is also a factor to consider. The space tourism industry (see List of private spaceflight companies ) is being targeted by spaceports in numerous locations worldwide. e.g. Spaceport America , New Mexico. The establishment of spaceports for tourist trips raises legal issues, which are only beginning to be addressed. The following is

4425-504: The next several years to move to the airpark. The project will include renovating and expanding two existing hangars, and constructing a third. The company does MRO work (maintenance, repair and operations/overhaul) on 737 and larger aircraft. The former northeast 'alert pads' and ready facility of the former Strategic Air Command base currently houses the Law Enforcement Driver Training Center of

4500-525: The north and west of the main runway are still visible on aerial photographs of the airport; however they are not usable. One company, Rocketplane Kistler , formerly based in Oklahoma, had plans to build and operate a suborbital spacecraft, the Rocketplane XP , but filed for bankruptcy in 2010 without having successfully launched a flight. Armadillo Aerospace conducted flight test activities at

4575-421: The postwar Army Air Forces. Radar Bomb Scoring became the preferred method of evaluating bomber crews, with the last of 888 simulated bomb runs scored against a bombing site near San Diego , California during 1946, subsequently increasing to 2,449 bomb runs by 1947. In the wake of the successful employment of air-dropped nuclear weapons against Hiroshima and Nagasaki to effectively end World War II, SAC became

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4650-591: The same date directly under HQ SAC ), while the IX Troop Carrier Command was inactivated the same date and its assets redistributed within SAC. With postwar demobilization still underway, eight of the ten assigned bomb groups were inactivated before the Eighth Air Force was assigned to SAC on 7 June 1946. Despite the pressures of demobilization, SAC continued the training and evaluation of bomber crews and units still on active duty in

4725-546: The school to the Air Training Command in 1954. SAC also created Emergency War Plan 1–49 (EWP 1–49), which outlined the means for delivering 133 atomic bombs, "...the entire stockpile...in a single massive attack..." on 70 Soviet cities over a 30-day period. The first Soviet atomic bomb test occurred on 29 August 1949 and the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) subsequently identified SAC's primary objective

4800-444: The strategic bombing of both Germany and German military forces in continental Europe prior to the 1944 invasion of France used several Air Forces, primarily those of the USAAF and those of the Royal Air Force ( RAF ), with the command of air operations transferring to the Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force on 14 April 1944. Planning to reorganize for a separate and independent postwar U.S. Air Force had begun by

4875-410: The war, 70 complete V-2 rockets were brought to White Sands for test launches, with 47 of them reaching altitudes between 100 km and 213 km. The world's first spaceport for orbital and human launches, the Baikonur Cosmodrome in southern Kazakhstan , started as a Soviet military rocket range in 1955. It achieved the first orbital flight ( Sputnik 1 ) in October 1957. The exact location of

4950-410: Was a United States Department of Defense Specified Command and a United States Air Force (USAF) Major Command responsible for command and control of the strategic bomber and intercontinental ballistic missile components of the United States military's strategic nuclear forces from 1946 to 1992. SAC was also responsible for strategic reconnaissance aircraft ; airborne command posts; and most of

5025-455: Was a sub-post of nearby Westover AFB . A 3-story nuclear bunker located on Bare Mountain, Massachusetts , The Notch was built with three-foot thick walls, 1.5 foot thick steel blast doors, and 20 feet underground to protect 350 people for 35 days. The Notch was shut down as a SAC facility in 1970 when 8th Air Force was relocated to Barksdale AFB , Louisiana. Despite this investment in "hardened" headquarters and command and control facilities,

5100-431: Was concurrently transferred to the newly created United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM), which was established as a joint Unified Combatant Command to replace SAC's Specified Command role. In 2009, SAC was reactivated and redesignated as the Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). AFGSC eventually acquired all USAF bomber aircraft and the intercontinental ballistic missile force. The Strategic Air Forces of

5175-408: Was described as the "Western Pentagon," specifically a, "...four-story, reinforced concrete and masonry office building..." above ground and a "...segregated, adjacent three-story below ground command post." This was the description of what would become Building 500 at Offutt AFB and the new headquarters complex built expressly for SAC, with construction commencing in 1955. SAC headquarters moved from

5250-427: Was intended to pave the way for future commercial spaceflights. The spacecraft, SpaceShipOne , was launched by a carrier airplane taking off horizontally. At Cape Canaveral, SpaceX in 2015 made the first successful landing and recovery of a first stage used in a vertical satellite launch. Rockets can most easily reach satellite orbits if launched near the equator in an easterly direction, as this maximizes use of

5325-554: Was later determined that an attack by the 509th Composite Bomb Group during the 1947 to 1948 time frame would have required at least five to six days just to transfer custody of the bombs from United States Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) sites to SAC and deploy the aircraft and weapons to forward operating bases before launching nuclear strikes. Postwar budget and personnel cuts had an insidious effect on SAC as its Deputy Commander, Major General Clements McMullen, implemented mandated force reductions. This continued to wear down SAC as

5400-451: Was subsequently assigned to SAC on 1 October 1947. Following the establishment of the U.S. Air Force, most SAC installations on U.S. territory were renamed as "Air Force Base" during late 1947 and into 1948, while non-U.S. installations were renamed as "Air Base". In May 1948, in an exercise versus Air Defense Command 's "Blue" force, a SAC "Red" strike force simulated attacks on Eastern Seaboard targets as far south as Virginia. After

5475-461: Was the swept-wing B-47 medium bomber, which first entered service in 1951 and became operational within SAC in 1953. The B-47 was a component of the October 1953 New Look strategy, which articulated, in part, that: " ...to minimize the threat ...the major purpose of air defense was not to shoot down enemy bombers—it was to allow SAC ...to get into the air [--and] not be destroyed on the ground [--to allow] massive retaliation ." Concern of

5550-664: Was to damage or destroy the Soviet Union's ability to deliver nuclear weapons. The JCS further defined SAC's secondary objective was to stop any Soviet advances into Western Europe, and its tertiary objective was the previous EWP 1–49 industrial mission. In July 1950, in response to combat operations on the Korean peninsula, SAC dispatched ten nuclear-capable bombers to Guam and deployed four B-29 bomber wings in Korea for tactical operations, although this action caused SAC commander LeMay to comment "...too many splinters were being whittled off

5625-501: Was used to develop monthly weather forecasts at targets, as well as for computing fuel consumption and fallout cloud patterns for planning strike routes and egress routes (e.g., determining the timing as to which targets to bomb first). In 1957, SAC also constructed The Notch , a facility alternatively known as the 8th Air Force Combat Operations Center (COC) and the Westover Communications Annex , since it

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