Traffic jams are already forming at U.S. spaceports due to the growing demand for space launches. The main problem is that three spaceports in Florida and California provide service for the majority of launches, and growing demand threatens to overwhelm them. There were 145 launches in the U.S. last year, five times more than in 2017, of which 134 were conducted by SpaceX.
George Nield, a former Federal Aviation Administration official, warns that unpredictable factors such as weather or accidents could put major spaceports out of commission for long periods of time. He cautions against over-reliance on multiple sites. Operators of new spaceports are trying to take advantage of this situation, although their expansion faces many difficulties.
Alternative spaceports
The spaceport on Alaska’s Kodiak Island, operated by Alaska Aerospace Corp. intends to increase the number of launches to 25 per year. Demand for spacecraft launches is growing, and companies are looking for less busy sites. However, building new spaceports in coastal areas is challenging due to local resistance.
New launch initiatives are emerging in Oklahoma and other states. Oklahoma Spaceport was the first to be licensed to launch rockets from aircraft, but it has not yet conducted a single flight. New projects like Tom Marotta’s Spaceport Company propose to launch rockets from offshore platforms, avoiding many of the land-based constraints.
In other states, such as Michigan and Maine, proposals for spaceports are still in the development stage. Maine plans to create a complex that includes not only launch sites, but also research and analysis centers. Local governments are also trying to cope with possible congestion and are planning a national strategy for spaceport development.
The U.S. Space Force is undertaking projects to increase capacity at the Cape Canaveral and Vandenberg Base launch sites. These works include expanding areas and reducing the impact on other activities during launches.
Challenges for space launches
SpaceX, in particular, conducts its launches primarily from Florida, with plans to move Starship rocket development to sites at the Kennedy Space Center and the Space Force Base at Cape Canaveral. This raises concerns among competitors about potential congestion, as the huge rocket could make it much more difficult to operate at already busy sites.
These trends indicate serious challenges for the future of space launches, and governments, together with companies, are trying to find the best solutions to overcome spaceport congestion problems.
Earlier we reported on how farmers opposed the space industry.
According to wsj.com
