Abstract Owing to the growing markets for both suborbital and orbital launches, a market which made up 40% of the global spending of $323 billion on space activities in 2015 and still continues to show signs of increased revenue [2], there is a need for additional landing sites within the United States. This article explores the viability of conversion of current Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)–licensed airports into dual use airport/spaceports to meet this need. Although many varying types of launching and landing systems can be used by a FAA-approved launch operator to complete their mission objective, for the scope of this article, the authors decided to focus only on vertical takeoff-horizontal landing spacecraft (VT-HLS) systems and horizontal takeoff-horizontal landing spacecraft (HT-HLS) systems. After making this distinction, the authors describe and layout the FAA's specific guidelines and review sessions for spaceport approval. These sessions are currently under study by the newly formed Streamlined Launch and Reentry Licensing Requirements Aviation Rulemaking Committee which was formed in response to Space Policy Directives 2. These sessions which are under current review include the Launch Site PreApplication Consultation, Launch Site Policy Review, Launch Site Safety Review and Approval, Environmental Program Review, and Launch Site Compliance Monitoring Review. The authors, upon listing an outline of these reviews and after applying their own three requirements which focus on candidates' currently existing infrastructure, location apart from major population centers, and relative distance to popular orbit launch points, deliver a list of candidates populated from the Airport Master Records and Reports database published by Airport IQ 5010. It should be noted as well that the potential economic development for the community in which the spaceport is to be located is another major aspect to be taken into consideration; however, for the purpose of this article, the author's assumed that all considered communities would welcome the economic benefits of a spaceport with open arms. After applying all of these filters to the populated list, the authors identify five candidates that met all of the desired criteria. The selected airports are Ellison Onizuka Kona International at Keahole, Kinston Regional Jetport at Stallings Field, Wilmington Air Park, Crater Lake/Klamath Regional, and Grant Co International.
The Planned Conversion of Airports to Spaceports in the United States
Space Policy ; 52
2020-01-22
Aufsatz (Zeitschrift)
Elektronische Ressource
Englisch
FAA/AST , Commercial space transportation , Space economy. , Airport conversion , Private space , Spaceport , ARC , Aviation Rulemaking Committee , ESA , European Space Agency , FAA , Federal Aviation Administration , Office of Commercial Space Transportation , HLS , Horizontal Landing Spacecraft , HT , Horizontal Takeoff , HT-HLS , Horizontal Takeoff - Horizontal Landing Spacecraft , ICBM , Intercontinental Ballistic Missile , ISS , International Space Station , JAXA , Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency , NASA , National Aeronautics and Space Administration , SPD 2 , Space Policy Directive 2 , VSS , Virgin Spaceship , VT , Vertical Takeoff , VT-HLS , Vertical Takeoff - Horizontal Landing Spacecraft
From Airports to Commercial Spaceports
AIAA | 2012
|FROM AIRPORTS TO COMMERCIAL SPACEPORTS
British Library Conference Proceedings | 2012
|Springer Verlag | 2017
|Spaceports & Airports: Integrating the Similarities / Reconciling the Differences (AIAA 2015-4493)
British Library Conference Proceedings | 2015
|