Spaceport Infrastructure Vital for Future Launch Growth

“Amateurs talk strategy while professionals talk logistics.” The phrase, often attributed to U.S. Army Gen. Omar Bradley, highlights how newcomers to a field will promote big plans while those with more experience will focus on the nitty-gritty details needed to turn any plan into reality.

Introduction

That was on display Jan. 27 at the annual Spaceport Summit by the Global Spaceport Alliance, a group that counts dozens of operating and prospective spaceports as members. During the day-long meeting, members were given the opportunity to take two minutes to discuss what was happening at their spaceports. Proposed spaceports in places ranging from Paso Robles, California, and Yuma, Arizona, to Nigeria and Uruguay outlined their visions to develop launch sites, offering visions of economic windfalls from capturing a portion of the growing space industry someday.

Current Infrastructure Strain

Then Dale Ketchum, vice president of Space Florida, the state’s space development agency, stepped up to talk about Cape Canaveral. “We’re going to do well over 100 launches to orbit this year,” he projected, a safe bet given there were 93 launches from the Cape in 2024. “Our priority is on basic meat-and-potatoes, blocking-and-tackling infrastructure.”

By infrastructure he did not mean launch pads or other facilities associated with spaceports but far more mundane, yet essential, items: “everything from wastewater and power to liquified natural gas.” Also on his list were roads, bridges, and additional wharf space at Port Canaveral, a port where space companies compete with cruise lines for access.

Launch Capacity and Current Launch Statistics

Cape Canaveral and neighboring Kennedy Space Center, along with Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, accounted for nearly all orbital launches from the United States in 2024 and over half of such launches worldwide. There are growing concerns among launch companies and the spaceports themselves that those launch sites can’t keep up with growing demand.

There are efforts to address those problems. Also during the meeting, Mark Bontrager, technical director of launch and range operations for Space Systems Command, said that the Space Force had budgeted $1.3 billion over five years for spaceport improvements intended to “boost capacity and resilience” at the Eastern and Western Ranges. Below is a summary of the projected launches:

Challenges and Limitations

“A lot of these projects are relatively pedantic. They’re not sexy projects here,” he said, citing examples ranging from electrical grids to roads. There are 192 such projects planned over five years. “We’re one year in, and we’re still on track.”

However, he said the funding is limited to Cape Canaveral and Vandenberg. It illustrates what some in the industry see as the growing gap between those two spaceports, with growing activity and support for strained infrastructure, and emerging and underutilized spaceports that, in some cases, could relieve the load from the Cape and Vandenberg if they had the infrastructure to support larger launch vehicles.

Members of the Global Spaceport Alliance discussed potential solutions to the gap at the meeting. There is a renewed push to seek funding for spaceport infrastructure grants by the Federal Aviation Administration, modeled on the FAA’s existing program to pay for airport infrastructure. Ketcham advocated for legislation to enable tax-exempt bonds for spaceport projects; a bill to enable that was introduced in Congress last year but did not pass.

Innovative Solutions and Strategies

But those solutions will not be enough for some spaceports, particularly repurposed inland airports. Some that were proposed a decade or two ago for spaceplanes that didn’t materialize are pivoting to other uses.

That’s the case for Cecil Spaceport, a former naval air station in Jacksonville, Florida, that is now emphasizing its ability to support ground testing for companies like hypersonic vehicle developer Hermeus. “If you base the success of a horizontal spaceport on launch, you’re going to fail,” said Matt Bocchino, director of the spaceport. “We’re focusing on ancillary stuff, like rocket testing.”

Even those efforts require infrastructure investment. One of the highlights at Cecil in the last year that Bocchino mentioned in his brief presentation was seemingly mundane: the completion of a new access road.

This article first appeared in the February 2025 issue of SpaceNews Magazine with the title “Foust Forward | When launch is humdrum.”

Infrastructure Priorities

The infrastructure concerns raised point toward more comprehensive planning and investment in facilities that support not only launch capabilities but also ancillary services required by emerging technology initiatives such as space tourism, satellite on-orbit servicing, and science missions. This leads to several critical aspects:

• Wastewater Management: Essential for operational stability, especially at high-traffic locations like Cape Canaveral.
• Energy Supply: Investment in liquified natural gas (LNG) facilities to power operations sustainably.
• Transport Infrastructure: Upgrading roads, bridges, and access routes to facilitate timely operations and logistics.

Conclusion

The future of spaceports in the United States hinges on not just the number of launches but the ability to manage the operational logistics that accompany such endeavors. As the industry grows, acknowledgment of the basic infrastructure requirements is paramount. The conversation at the Spaceport Summit highlighted the need for pragmatic planning, securing funding models, and innovative approaches that go beyond traditional launch considerations.

References

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