Here is a list of the last 30 articles from GSA.
Japan land-and-sea spaceport model
Japan is rethinking the spaceport by connecting land-based business, transportation, and community infrastructure with mobile offshore launch operations. The result could be a new model for spaceport development across Japan and beyond.
Mobile Services for spaceports
Mobile services for spaceports are creating new ways to expand capabilities, serve customers, and generate revenue while making the most of existing infrastructure. Leaders from Jacobs, Alaska Aerospace, Novaeka, Agile Space, and Leidos explore mobile testing, payload processing, range services, mission support, and strategic partnerships that can help spaceports grow with the commercial space market.
Mobile Rocket Testing
Mobile rocket testing could give spaceports a new way to expand capabilities without building permanent infrastructure. Novaeka’s portable testing concept brings specialized propulsion testing directly to spaceports, universities, and aerospace companies, creating opportunities for new customers, workforce development, partnerships, and economic activity.
I particularly like the excerpt because it connects the technology to the spaceport business case, rather than making the article sound as though it is simply about rocket testing.
Webinar Recap – Orbital Biotech Return
Orbital biotech is moving from research projects toward commercial products, creating new opportunities for spaceports. Industry leaders explore how microgravity manufacturing, reentry, payload processing, logistics, and regional partnerships could connect orbital production with customers on Earth.
Offshore Launch: Expanding Europe’s Access to Space
Italy is looking to the sea to expand its access to orbit. Maritime Blue Launch Spaceport is developing a mobile offshore launch platform that could support small launch vehicles, provide greater flexibility in reaching different orbital inclinations, and establish a new maritime launch capability for Europe.
Visit to Midland Air & Spaceport and Space Nation
GSA Deputy Executive Director Steve Wolfe visits Midland Air & Spaceport to explore its growing commercial space ecosystem, then takes on a simulated Moon mission with Space Nation and astronaut Terry Virts.
Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
Most people know Cape Canaveral for its spectacular rocket launches, but few know the remarkable history behind them. Jamie Draper, Director of the Cape Canaveral Space Force Museum, shares how the museum is preserving the stories, launch complexes, and artifacts that document America’s journey from Cold War missile testing to today’s thriving commercial space industry. Discover why understanding the past is essential to inspiring the future of spaceflight.
Designing for Launch
What makes a modern spaceport successful? Industry leaders from BRPH, Alaska Aerospace, the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority, and Florida’s Space Coast explore how infrastructure, master planning, workforce development, and regional partnerships are shaping the next generation of spaceports.
Airports to Spaceports
Many of tomorrow’s spaceports may already exist as today’s airports. With established infrastructure, transportation networks, utilities, and skilled workforces, airports offer a practical foundation for supporting future space transportation. This article explores how communities can leverage existing aviation assets to attract aerospace investment, foster economic growth, and prepare for the next generation of spaceflight.
Spaceports as Economic Magnets
Spaceports create economic value long before the first launch. By attracting aerospace manufacturers, researchers, suppliers, and workforce development programs, they become catalysts for regional innovation, high-paying jobs, and long-term industry growth that extends far beyond the launch pad.
Why Spaceports Need More Than Basic Lightning Standards
Lightning protection at a spaceport goes far beyond installing lightning rods. Modern launch infrastructure must manage electromagnetic effects, protect sensitive flight hardware, and support mission assurance in environments where even nearby strikes can impact critical systems.
Infinity One Spaceport: Heritage in Motion
Infinity One Spaceport’s story spans from World War II pilot training and Cold War strategic operations to the emerging era of commercial spaceflight. Formerly known as Oklahoma Air & Space Port, the facility demonstrates how preserving critical aerospace infrastructure can position a region for future opportunities when markets, technology, and vision finally align.
Lightning and the Business of Spaceport Resilience
Why Mission Assurance Begins Long Before Launch Dr. Carlos MataChief Technology OfficerScientific Lightning Solutions, LLC
Powering Launch
The future of nuclear-powered spaceflight depends on more than advanced reactor technology. Experts from BWXT, Merrick & Company, Westinghouse, and RS&H discuss the infrastructure, testing, safety requirements, and regulatory frameworks spaceports will need to support nuclear-powered missions to the Moon and beyond.
When One Pad Goes Silent
What the Blue Origin Incident Reveals About Spaceport Resilience Written by Izzy HouseGlobal Spaceport Alliance
Pacific Spaceport Complex – Alaska USA
Pacific Spaceport Complex Alaska stands as a defining example of how bold decisions can reshape an industry. Established in the 1990s as the Kodiak Launch Complex, it became the first FAA-licensed U.S. launch site independent of federal ranges, opening new pathways for commercial flexibility and innovation.
Positioned at the nation’s northernmost orbital launch site, PSCA provides unmatched access to a wide range of orbital inclinations, supporting missions from small satellite deployment to advanced defense testing. Its state-owned, self-sustaining model has driven continuous evolution, enabling cost efficiencies, new capabilities, and diversified revenue streams.
From a greenfield concept to a thriving economic engine, PSCA’s legacy reflects independence, adaptability, and forward-thinking leadership. Its story continues to guide the next generation of spaceports as they build for a more dynamic and commercially driven future.
Funding Infrastructure webinar
Funding the Future: How Spaceports Secure Infrastructure Investment https://youtu.be/ll2WKwFuK9g Spaceports are the foundation of the
Future-Proofing the Spaceport
Spaceports are being built for a future that continues to evolve. Long-term success depends on designing infrastructure that can adapt to new vehicles, providers, and mission demands. This article explores how flexibility, modular growth, and standards-based systems enable spaceports to scale efficiently and remain competitive over time.
Designing for Cadence
As launch frequency increases, success depends on more than completing a single mission. It requires systems and processes designed for repeatability. This article explores how standardized workflows, automation, and scalable infrastructure enable spaceports to support consistent, efficient launch cadence and sustained operations.
Don’t Delay
Some of the most critical spaceport systems are often the easiest to delay. Power stability, secure communications, cybersecurity, and environmental monitoring may seem secondary during development, yet they become essential when operations begin. This article explores how deferring these foundational elements introduces risk and delay, and why addressing them early enables smoother, more reliable launch execution.
Build What Matters First
Spaceport success depends on more than visible infrastructure. Behind every efficient launch campaign are the systems that quietly enable operations from arrival through liftoff. This article explores how prioritizing reliable power, communications, and integrated mission systems creates a foundation for faster, more flexible, and repeatable launch operations.
Enable Faster and Smarter Launch Operations
Launch delays often begin long before liftoff, rooted in the systems, processes, and coordination that support operations on the ground. This article explores the hidden friction points that slow momentum at spaceports and reveals how consistency, integration, and operational alignment can enable faster, more reliable launch campaigns.
Spaceport Site Selection
As the commercial space industry accelerates, the race to build the next generation of spaceports is reshaping the ground infrastructure that makes it all possible. No longer limited to government launch sites, spaceports are emerging as strategic hubs driven by private investment, regional growth ambitions, and national priorities.
Success begins with a clear mission. From orbital launches that require expansive safety corridors to suborbital testing and technology hubs, each spaceport must align its purpose with geography, infrastructure, and market demand. Factors such as trajectory, recovery logistics, weather, transportation access, and community support all influence long-term viability.
Looking ahead, increasing launch cadence and reusable systems are shifting the focus toward integrated ecosystems rather than standalone sites. The spaceports that thrive will connect operators, manufacturers, and missions into a cohesive, scalable network, reinforcing that in the race to space, where you start matters just as much as where you are going.
Defending the High Ground
Joining Forces, Achieving Wins, and Securing Space Dominance Defending the High Ground: Integrating Mission-Critical Cybersecurity
AI Accelerates FAA Part 450 Licensing
AI-Powered “Regulatory Operating System” Accelerates FAA Part 450 Licensing for the Global Spaceport Ecosystem HyperSigma.AI LLC
Goddard Launch Site, Massachusetts - USA
In 1926, rocket pioneer Robert H. Goddard launched the world’s first liquid-fueled rocket from Asa Wood Farm in Auburn, Massachusetts. Over the next three years, he conducted eight experimental launches using gasoline and liquid oxygen, demonstrating the propulsion systems that would shape modern spaceflight.
Public concerns about noise, fires, and falling debris eventually halted operations at the farm, ending what might have become the world’s first dedicated launch site. Goddard later moved his work to New Mexico with support from the Daniel Guggenheim Fund for the Promotion of Aeronautics.
Today the historic launch site rests quietly within the Pakachoag Golf Course, recognized as a National Historic Landmark and remembered as an early chapter in the story of spaceports.
Value of a Spaceport to the Local Economy
DOWNLOAD THE INFOGRAPHIC The Value of a Spaceport to the Local Economy A spaceport is
A Workforce Ready for Lift Off
Florida is turning classrooms into gateways for the space economy.
During a recent GSA Academic Advisory Group session, Space Florida’s Michael Miller and workforce partner Karin Hoffman described how the Space Florida Academy Program is aligning existing career and technical education with real industry needs. By rebranding familiar skills as space pathways and building clear routes from school to high-wage aerospace jobs, the state is creating a talent model that strengthens local economies and offers a practical template for other launch regions.
Dawn Aerospace Visits Oklahoma Air and Space Port
The Dawn Aerospace team on their first visit to Oklahoma standing at the south end of the massive 13, 503’ runway (17L/35R) at the Oklahoma Air & Space Port at Clinton-Sherman Airport (CSM) in Burns Flat. (L-R): Craig Smith, Oklahoma Director of Space Industry Development; Aleisha Draper, Dawn Aerospace Account Manager / Spaceplane; Chris Wadsworth, ODAA CoS; Nick Young, ODAA, Airports Division Manager; Will Austin, Dawn Aerospace Flight Operations Team Lead; Grayson Ardies, ODAA Executive Director; Ralph Huijsman, Dawn Aerospace, Spaceplane Programs Manager.
Launching Tomorrow: Yuma’s Spaceport Partnership with ASU, Industry, and Community
In Yuma, Arizona, a new kind of partnership is taking shape where a university, a design firm, and a community are working side by side to build the future of space infrastructure. The Yuma Spaceport initiative brings together Arizona State University, HDR, and local leaders to design a sustainable, community-driven model for spaceport development. Through ASU’s ∆V Studio, students and professionals are transforming ideas into action, creating a launchpad for innovation that reaches from the classroom to the stars.
Newsletters (2019-2024)
- December: Space Rescue Service
- November: Dr. Nield reports on his trip to Starmus Festival held in Yerevan, Armenia
- August: GSA Participation at the Farnborough International Airshow a Success!
- July: Announcing Farnborough International Airshow GSA Partnership
- June: Identifying potential options for the funding of spaceport infrastructure.
- May: “I recently went on a very interesting trip,” Dr. George Nield on his trip to space with Blue Origin
- April: Don’t miss Dr. George Nield debrief on his trip to space
- March: GSA Chairman Dr. George Nield to fly to space with Blue Origin
- February: GSA Membership Caucus Report and Keynote Videos Now Available
- December
- November
- October
- September: Remembering former FAA-AST Associate Administrator Patti Grace Smith
- August: The dawn of a new era of commercial human spaceflight is underway
- July: Congressional hearing on commercial space transportation and the FAA’s responsibility to oversee and regulate the industry
- June: Pandemic did not slow down space economy growth
- May: SpaceX Makes a Historic Nighttime Splashdown
- April: Improving prospects for point-to-point space travel
- March: Advanced weather systems are critical to spaceport operations
- February: Year begins with successful launches of Astra and Blue Origin
- December: Another successful Commercial Spaceport Summit
- November: GSA 2020 Commercial Spaceport Summit Details
- October: FAA Approves Rocket Lab’s Operator License
- August: Spaceport at Vandenberg Signs Landmark Agreement
- July: Space Hub Southerland Signs Deal with Orbex Prime
- June: Norway Stakes Claim to Spaceport Opportunities
- May: Rocket Lab Tests Electron at Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport
- April: Air Liquide Boosts Ventilator Production for COVID-19 Relief
- January: GSA Issues Report: Spaceport: Enabling the Space Economy
- October: Announcement of 2019 Commercial Spaceport Summit
- September: Canadian Spaceport Gets Environmental Approval
- August: UAE Promotes Multi-Mode Super Port as a Model for Spaceports
- July: Houston Spaceport Breaks Ground for Suborbital Vehicles
- June: DoD to Examine Use of U.S. Commercial Spaceports
- May: Infrastructure Funding Available to Spaceports
- April: UBS Predicts $20 Billion Market for Spaceports
- March: Portugal Looking for Spaceport Partners
- February: Colorado Air and Space Port Gets FAA Approval
Press Release
- Feb 14, 2024: Global Spaceport Alliance Hosts Successful 9th Annual GSA Spaceport Summit
- Nov 7, 2023: Jim Bridenstine Named Keynote Speaker for GSA Spaceport Summit, Part of Commercial Space Week
- April 2022: Dr. George Nield Reflects on Trip to Space
- March 2022: Dr. George Nield, Chairman of Global Spaceport Alliance & SpaceCom Advisor, Is Heading to Space
- July 2021: A New Era Begins at Spaceports
Summit Report
- 2024 GSA Summit Report
- 2023 GSA Summit Report
- 2022 GSA Caucus Report
- 2020 GSA Summit Report
- 2019 Commercial Spaceport Summit Report
- 2018 Commercial Spaceport Summit Report
- 2017 Commercial Spaceport Summit Report
- 2016 Commercial Spaceport Summit Report
- 2015 Commercial Spaceport Summit Report