THE RISE OF THE SPACEPORT
Put yourself in the era of the 1950s and 1960s: space is a place exclusive to government agencies as the United States and the Soviet Union lock horns in the Space Race. Fast forward 50 years and space is now open to anyone and everyone, and commercial aerospace companies are making a real surge forward in making space tourism a real thing, no longer in the realm of science fiction.
Three major players in the game are SpaceX, Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic. All three are owned by their respective billionaire entrepreneurs Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Sir Richard Branson. These three companies are on the verge of offering flights into space for the average person – if they can afford the luxury – and the 2020s will undoubtedly see amazing milestones in this area. There are also many other aerospace companies around the world looking to capitalise on the commercial space industry, launching their own satellites into space without needing help from government rockets.
With this incredible increase in commercial activity in space, there has also been an increase in spaceports to accommodate such busy timetables. A spaceport isn’t much different from an airport, but instead of putting things into the air, these ports are sending objects into space. There are two types of launches
