Rocket launch site

From Free net encyclopedia

A rocket launch site is a facility for the launch of rockets. It has usually one or more launch pads or suitable sites to mount a transportable launch pad. For vehicles with liquid propellant, suitable storage facilities and, in some cases, production facilities are necessary.

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Overview

A rocket launch site 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.

Orbital launch vehicle sites for satellites and interplanetary probes are called spaceports. The best known spaceports are Cape Canaveral in Florida, Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, Baikonur in Russia and Kourou in French Guyana. Spaceports are usually constructed as close to the equator as possible. Launching near Earth's equator allows rockets launching eastbound to receive extra velocity from Earth's rotation, allowing launch vehicles to potentially carry more payload.

In Europe there are only launch sites for suborbital rockets. Esrange and Salto di Quirra are the most important.

While Germany currently possesses no launch sites due to its relatively small size and high population density, prior to 1945 the Nazi German government utilized several launch sites in continental Europe. These were: from 1936 to 1945, Peenemünde, for flight tests of the A4-ballistic missile; from 1957 to 1964, the mud-flats near Cuxhaven , where the Hermann Oberth society and the Berthold-Seliger-Forschungs- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft launched many rocket designs as the Kumulus and the Cirrus; and from 1988 to 1992, in Zingst, where there was a launch site for Russian vehicles of the type MMR06-M. In the 1970s Poland launched suborbital sounding rockets of the type Meteor from military training camps near Leba and Ustka.

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Launch sites for orbital launch vehicles

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Launch sites for suborbital rockets in Europe

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Abandoned launch sites in Europe

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Launch sites for suborbital rockets in Asia

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Launch sites for suborbital rockets in Africa

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Launch sites for suborbital rockets in Australia

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Launch sites for suborbital rockets in North America

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Launch sites for suborbital rockets in South America

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Launch sites for suborbital rockets in Antarctica and islands far away from continents

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External links

fr:Centre de lancement ru:Космодром

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