57-775: The Eastern Range (ER) is an American rocket range ( Spaceport ) that supports missile and rocket launches from the two major launch heads located at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Florida . The range has also supported Ariane launches from the Guiana Space Centre as well as launches from the Wallops Flight Facility and other lead ranges. The range also uses instrumentation operated by NASA at Wallops and KSC. The range can support launches between 37° and 114° azimuth . The headquarters of
114-794: 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. 45th Space Wing The Space Launch Delta 45 (SLD 45)
171-617: A contract to operate the Western and Eastern Ranges for the next 10 years through their subsidiary Range Generation Next . In February 2017, SpaceX 's CRS-10 launch was the "first operational use" of the Autonomous Flight Safety System (AFSS) on "either of Air Force Space Command 's Eastern or Western Ranges ". The following SpaceX flight, EchoStar 23 in March 2017, was the last SpaceX launch utilizing
228-493: 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
285-721: A range along the Aleutian Islands ; El Centro, California , with a range along the Baja California Peninsula ; and Banana River Naval Air Station with a launch site at Cape Canaveral and a range over the Bahamas and into the Atlantic Ocean . The Washington site was quickly discarded due to difficulties with support due to cold weather and remoteness. El Centro was put forth as the primary choice (due to being close to missile manufacturers) with
342-471: 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
399-591: A year later, on 30 June 1951, the Long Range Proving Ground Division was redesignated again, becoming the Air Force Missile Test Center , gaining the 6541st Missile Test Wing, later redesginated as the 6541st Operations Group (Range). The 4800th Guided Missile Wing would also experience redesignation as the 6555th Guided Missile Wing and then as the 6555th Guided Missile Group . Starting in 1955 it would have
456-566: 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
513-773: Is a unit of the United States Space Force . The Space Launch Delta 45 is assigned to Space Systems Command and headquartered at Patrick Space Force Base , Florida. The wing also controls Cape Canaveral Space Force Station . The 45th Space Delta is responsible for all space launch operations from the East Coast . It manages the Eastern Range , including launch activities for the Space Force, Department of Defense (DoD), NASA , and other private space corporations. The Space Launch Delta 45 (SLD 45)
570-609: Is also interpreted as the string of radomes and theodolites located throughout the Eastern Range. The Air Force Division, Joint Long Range Proving Ground was established on 1 October 1949. Assigned to Headquarters Command , the Air Force Division include the 4800th Guided Missile Wing , which was gained on 30 December 1950. The Air Force Division, Joint Long Range Proving Ground managed the proving ground for Air Force, Army, and Navy activities, while also running
627-566: 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
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#1732773336126684-452: 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
741-495: Is one of two space launch wings for the U.S. Space Force, being responsible for executing military, intelligence, civil, and commercial space launches using the Eastern Range . Primary launch vehicles include the Atlas V , Delta IV Heavy , Pegasus , Minotaur , Falcon 9 , Falcon Heavy , and Boeing X-37 rockets. It also supports U.S. Navy Trident II D5 ballistic missile tests and evaluation. The Space Launch Delta 45 (SLD 45)
798-457: Is the host wing for Patrick Space Force Base and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station , providing base support for NASA , the Air Force's Technical Applications Center and 920th Rescue Wing , and U.S. Navy's Naval Ordnance Test Unit. The blue is used to symbolize the sky and space, while the gold is used to symbolize the excellence required to conduct successful range operations. Dividing
855-557: 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
912-664: The 45th Space Wing was activated and assumed operational control for the range from ESMC; on the same day the Eastern Test Range became the Eastern Range. The transition on the west coast occurred one week later on 19 November 1991, when the Western Space and Missile Center became the 30th Space Wing and the Western Test Range became the Western Range . In 2014, Raytheon Technologies won
969-465: The Atlantic Ocean to 90° East longitude in the Indian Ocean , where it meets the Western Range . The range consists of a chain of shore and sea-based tracking sites. "By January 1960, the Eastern Range included 13 major stations, approximately 91 outlying sites, a fleet of ships and three marine support stations. By September 1963, the Eastern Range extended around the tip of South Africa to
1026-454: 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
1083-675: The Joint Long Range Proving Ground Base . On 10 June 1949, the Banana River Naval Air Station was redesignated the Joint Long Range Proving Ground Base and Advance Headquarters, Joint Long Range Proving Ground and the Air Force Division, Joint Long Range Proving Ground was established. On 16 May 1950 and 17 May 1950, range and base dropped the "Joint" in their names due to a DoD decision earlier in
1140-840: 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
1197-758: The SM-65 Atlas , HGM-25A Titan I , and PGM-17 Thor . These missiles would all be modified into future space launch vehicles. On 15 May 1964, the Air Force Missile Test Center was redesignated as the Air Force Eastern Test Range ( AFETR ), managing all missile and space launches from the East Coast of the United States , specifically out of Cape Canaveral Space Force Station . It was reassigned to Air Force Systems Command's National Range Division. While
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#17327733361261254-646: The 45th Space Wing was STS-44 , with the Atlantis deploying a Defense Support Program (DSP) satellite. The 45th Space Wing also supported a number of other firsts, such as the 22 May 2012 launch of SpaceX COTS Demo Flight 2 , which was the first commercial vehicle to dock with the International Space Station . On 21 December 2015, the 45th Space Wing supported the first rocket landing, with Falcon 9 flight 20 landing at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Landing Zone 1 . On 20 December 2019,
1311-416: The 45th Space Wing, along with the rest of Air Force Space Command became part of the United States Space Force . The Fourteenth Air Force was redesignated as Space Operations Command , which the 45th Space Wing remained assigned to. Structure December 2020: 45th Operations Group (45 OG) 45th Mission Support Group (45 MSG) 45th Medical Group (45 MDG) 45th Comptroller Squadron (45 CPTS) Upon
1368-485: The 6550th Test Group (Missile) was briefly assigned to the Air Force Missile Test Center. In 1961 Air Force Missile Test Center's higher headquarters would change from Air Research and Development Command to Air Force Systems Command Throughout the 1950s and 1960s the Air Force Missile Test Center would begin to build permanent launch complexes on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station . The Air Force Missile Test Center performed launch tests of early Air Force missiles, such as
1425-405: The 6555th Test Group (Missile) and in 1959 the 6555th Guided Missiles Group (Test and Evaluation) assigned to the center. In 1951 the 1st Pilotless Bomber Squadron would briefly be assigned to the center. Starting in 1954 the 6550th Operations Squadron and 6555th Guided Missile Squadron (later 6555th Guided Missiles Squadron) would also be assigned to the center to assist in its test duties. In 1955
1482-571: The 9th Space Division was inactivated on 1 October 1991, the Western Space and Missile Systems Center directly reported to Air Force Space Command. On 12 November 1991, as part of a larger Air Force heritage initiative, the Eastern Space and Missile Center was redesignated as the 45th Space Wing ( 45 SW ), with the 45th Operations Group assuming the lineage of the World War II -era 45th Bombardment Group (Medium). The Eastern Test Range
1539-678: The Air Force Eastern Test Range managed the range, launches themselves were managed by the Space Systems Division 's 6555th Aerospace Test Wing . In addition to performing national security space launches, the Air Force Eastern Test Range also supported all NASA launches out of Kennedy Space Center , including Project Mercury , Project Gemini , and the Apollo program . The Air Force Eastern Test Range also continued to provide joint testing support for
1596-639: The Air Force's guided missile test program at the facility. On 16 May 1950 the Air Force Division, Joint Long Range Proving Ground was redesignated as the Long Range Proving Ground Division and reassigned from Headquarters Command to Air Research and Development Command . This renaming was directly in response to the Defense Department changed the status of guided missile testing centers from joint service commands to individual service responsibilities. Less than
1653-648: The Cape as second choice. However, the El Centro site had to be abandoned after a wayward V-2 missile from White Sands crashed into a cemetery in Juarez , Mexico , leading to then Mexican President Miguel Alemán Valdés refusing to allow missiles to overfly Baja. The U.S. Navy transferred the Banana River Naval Air Station to the U.S. Air Force on 1 September 1948, and it remained on standby status. On 11 May 1949, President Truman signed Public Law 60 which established
1710-501: The Eastern Range suffered two hurricanes which caused extensive damage and only allowed 19 launches that year. By 2017, the Eastern Range had upgraded their legacy operational processes and equipment to be able to support a much faster cadence of rocket launches for SpaceX AFTS-controlled rocket launches, but they did not use the capability when an opportunity arose to increase range launch cadence in October 2018. The first planned use of
1767-652: The Joint Long Range Proving Ground became the Florida Missile Test Range (FMTR). These would not be the only name changes for the range or the agency that controlled it. The Florida Missile Test Range was renamed the Atlantic Missile Range (AMR) in 1958 and the Eastern Test Range in 1964; the Air Force Missile Test Center was redesignated the Air Force Eastern Test Range (AFETR) in 1964, then control of
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1824-406: 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
1881-506: The Navy, which performed test launches of their submarine-launched ballistic missiles from the Eastern Test Range. Air Force Systems Command resumed direct oversight of the Air Force Eastern Test Range on 1 February 1972, before inactivating the range on 1 February 1977 and centralizing its management through the Space and Missile Systems Organization 's Space and Missile Test Center. In 1979,
1938-603: The Space and Missile Test Center was reorganized, becoming the Space and Missile Test Organization and the Air Force Eastern Test Range was reestablished on 1 October 1970 as the Eastern Space and Missile Center ( ESMC ), with the 6555th Aerospace Test Group subordinate to it. The Eastern Space and Missile Center assumed responsible for all range management and launch functions, including the management of telemetry stations at Antigua and Ascension Island. On 1 October 1979,
1995-475: The Space and Missile Test Organization was inactivated and the Eastern Space and Missile Center was directly subordinated to the Space Systems Division. A year later Air Force Systems Command began to transition the space launch mission to Air Force Space Command . On 1 October 1990, the Eastern Space and Missile Systems Center transferred to Air Force Space Command's 9th Space Division . After
2052-958: 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
2109-519: 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
2166-675: 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,
2223-607: The end of World War II at White Sands Proving Grounds in New Mexico , but it became clear that a much longer range away from heavily populated areas would be needed. The Joint Research and Development Board established the Committee on the Long Range Proving Ground in October 1946 to study locations for such a range, with three potential sites emerging: along the northern coast of Washington state with
2280-539: 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
2337-439: The first phase of SOSUS, starting in 1951, were engaged on MILS installation and activation. Atlantic MILS target arrays, intended to precisely locate nose cone splashdown and then nose cone location on the bottom, were located down range from Cape Canaveral about 1,300 km (810 mi) at Grand Turk Island , 2,400 km (1,500 mi) at Antigua and 8,100 km (5,000 mi) at Ascension Island . The range managed
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2394-561: 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
2451-660: The fixed transponders for Sonobuoy MILS (SMILS), exclusively used by the United States Navy Strategic Systems Project Office supporting the Navy's fleet ballistic missile programs . Much of that system's exact details were classified. As recently as July 2007, NASA spacecraft such as Dawn have depended upon the availability of airborne and sea-based tracking assets associated with the East Range to monitor launch and ascent. Spaceport A spaceport or cosmodrome
2508-442: 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
2565-606: The historic system of ground radars, tracking computers, and personnel in launch bunkers that had been used for over sixty years for all launches from the Eastern Range. For all future SpaceX launches, AFSS has replaced "the ground-based mission flight control personnel and equipment with on-board Positioning, Navigation and Timing sources and decision logic. The benefits of AFSS include increased public safety, reduced reliance on range infrastructure, reduced range spacelift cost, increased schedule predictability and availability, operational flexibility, and launch slot flexibility". In 2017,
2622-435: The island of Mahé, Seychelles in the Indian Ocean ". Much of the sea-based tracking and many of the land based stations have been replaced by space based tracking, including the present Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS). Ground stations associated with the range are located at: Major decommissioned stations associated with the range are located at: The Missile Impact Location System (MILS)
2679-399: 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
2736-510: The more rapid cadence was in August 2019. As of 2019, the range said that it could "support up to 48 launches per year from Florida" with an "eventual goal [to] get to a capability to launch two different rockets within 24 hours". By year: In early 2018, the plan was to get to 48 launches a year by about 2023. The range starts at the launch pads at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and John F. Kennedy Space Center and extends eastward over
2793-488: The normal equatorial departure routes for missiles and space vehicles on the Eastern Range. They also symbolize travel to other planets, as depicted by the smaller globe. Red was chosen for the flight arrows to indicate the stresses of launch and space flight and the heat of re-entry into Earth's atmosphere. A string of white "clouds" across the center of the large globe represent abnormal conditions, weather and radiation with which range personnel have to contend. The cloud symbol
2850-493: The range is now the 45th Space Wing at Patrick Space Force Base . The history of the Eastern Range began on 18 October 1940, with the activation of the Banana River Naval Air Station which supported antisubmarine sea-patrol planes during World War II . The station was deactivated and put into a caretaker status on 1 September 1947. Launches of captured German V-2 rockets had been ongoing since
2907-542: The range was transferred to Detachment 1 of the Space and Missile Test Center located at Vandenberg Air Force Base when AFETR was deactivated on 1 February 1977, which put both the Eastern and Western ranges under the same leadership. On 1 October 1979, control of the range passed to the newly activated Eastern Space and Missile Center (ESMC). The ESMC was transferred from Air Force Systems Command to Air Force Space Command on 10 October 1990; finally, on 12 November 1991,
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#17327733361262964-412: The shield horizontally, across its right half, is a line of "Ts", which were adopted from previous patches reflecting the history of the wing's installations as a test center for missiles and space vehicles. In the center of the shield, a large aquamarine and light blue globe represents Earth. A smaller globe, in the same colors, symbolizes the moon and other planets. Nine pimento red flight arrows indicated
3021-480: 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
3078-593: The year to put the range exclusively under U. S. Air Force jurisdiction. On 24 July 1950, Bumper #8 became the first missile to launch from the Cape Canaveral. The Long Range Proving Ground Base was renamed Patrick Air Force Base on 1 August 1950, in honor of Major General Mason M. Patrick and the following year, on 30 June 1951, the Joint Long Range Proving Ground Division became the Air Force Missile Test Center and
3135-439: Was also renamed as the Eastern Range, to emphasize its operational nature. On 1 July 1993, the 45th Space Wing was assigned to the newly reactivated Fourteenth Air Force . On 1 December 2003, the 45th Launch Group was activated to manage launch operations. On 31 July 2018, the 45th Launch Group was remerged with the 45th Operations Group in an effort to streamline Air Force Space Command organizations. The first launch under
3192-458: Was established in the then Atlantic Missile Range (AMR) from 1958 through 1960. The system was developed by American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T), with its Bell Laboratories research and Western Electric manufacturing elements and was to an extent based on the company's technology and experience developing and deploying the U.S. Navy's then classified Sound Surveillance System (SOSUS). The company and Navy assets that had installed
3249-427: 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
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