Suborbital Launch Site

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Suborbital Launch Site

Category of launch sites.

Subtopics

Aberporth The Aberporth military test range is located on Cardigan Bay on the west coast of Wales. It already became associated with solid rocket tests during the Second World War. Development of surface-to-air missiles began there in 1948 and tests were made of re-entry and high-speed aircraft shapes in the 1960's. Due to the military nature of the site, the only sounding rocket launches have been to support military test operations.

Akhtopol Akhtopol Meteorological Rocket Station

Akita Akita Rocket Range. Sounding rocket launch site for Kappa series.

Al Amarah Al Amarah

Al Anbar Military testing range. Launch gantry located here for Tamouz satellite launcher, used for one known launch attempt in 1989. Probably destroyed in Gulf War.

Al Kahir Ballistic missile launch location.

Al Nasriyah Missile base, Syria

Al Nikheb Al Nikheb

Al Qalamon Missile base near Damascus

Alcantara Alcantara Space Center. Sounding rocket and the launch complex for Brazil's indigenous VLS orbital booster was located here.

Altus AFB Atlas F ICBM (SMS 577) base, 1962-1965. The 12 missiles here constituted America's ICBM deterrent force during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Andoya Andoya Rocket Range (ARR) is the world's northernmost permanent launch facility for sounding rockets and scientific balloons and is responsible for all scientific-related balloon and rocket operations in Norwegian territory. ARR provides complete services for launch, operations, data acquisition, recovery and ground instrumentation support. The range has conducted more than 650 rocket launches and hosted scientists and engineers from more than 70 institutes and universities.

Anhueng South Korean sounding rocket launch site, used from June 1993.

Anna Plains Sounding rocket launch location.

Antigua Antigua Air Force Station. Tracking facility also used for sounding rocket launches.

Arecibo Sounding rocket launch site near world's largest radio telescope.

Ascension Ascension Island. Sounding rocket launch site located on an island in the South Atlantic near a NASA/USAF tracking station.

Auburn Null

Baikonur Russia's largest cosmodrome, the only one used for manned launches and with facilities for the larger Proton, N1, and Energia launch vehicles. The spaceport ended up on foreign soil after the break-up of Soviet Union. The official designations NIIP-5 and GIK-5 are used in official Soviet histories. It was also universally referred to as Tyuratam by both Soviet military staff and engineers, and the US intelligence agencies. Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union the Russian Federation has insisted on continued use of the old Soviet 'public' name of Baikonur. In its Kazakh (Kazak) version this is rendered Baykonur.

Balasore Indian military testing range.

Barbados Site Sounding rocket launch site located on island in the Caribbean. It was also from here that Gerard Bull tested his Martlet series of gun-launched sounding rockets.

Barents Sea Null

Barents Sea Launch Area Submarine-launched ballistic missile launch area.

Barking Sands Military missile test and sounding rocket launch site. In use from 1962 to present. Sandia National Laboratories operates the Kauai Test Facility for the Department of Energy and, through inter-Service Support Agreements provides the Barking Sands Pacific Missile Range Facility with rocket launch services for target systems and upper atmosphere measurements. PMRF/KTF is recognized in the INF Treaty as an authorized site from which launches of the STARS missile can be conducted. The site was recently involved in anti-ballistic missile tests.

Barter Island Sounding rocket launch location.

Base Matienzo Sounding rocket launch location.

Bay of Biscay Launch Area Submarine-launched ballistic missile launch area.

Bering Sea Sea-launched sounding rocket launch area known to have been used for 2 launches in 1950, reaching up to 80 kilometers altitude.

Bershet Headquarters of an RVSN Division, 1961-present. ICBM base. Base for units deployed with R-16 ICBM initially. Later 60 light ICBM (UR-100) silos operated, later supplemented by 9 RT-23 mobile ICBM launchers.

Bigen Island Bigen Island, Aur Atoll, Marshall Islands, was a sounding rocket launch location.

Bikini Nuclear test site. Sounding rockets were launched from here to monitor blast and fallout of nuclear explosions.

Birdling's Flat Sounding rocket launch site, co-located with radar site operated by University of Canterbury.

Biscarosse In April 1962 France signed the final agreements with Algeria, requiring them to evacuate their rocket test ranged there by July 1967. Three months later a site on French soil on the Bay of Biscay, at Landes, near Biscarosse, was selected. The site would allow the testing of missiles over the Atlantic out to a range of 3000 km. This would put the RV impact area near the Azores, and a tracking station was opened in October 1966 on Flores island.

Black Mesa Military testing range.

Black Rock Desert Sounding rocket launch location.

Black Sea Launch Area Naval military missile launch position.

Blue Origin Blue Origin was founded and funded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, founder of amazon.com. Commercial space passenger service would be conducted from a private spaceport at the 165,000-acre Corn Ranch, 40 kilometers north of Van Horn, west Texas. The launch point would be 8 kilometers west of Highway 54. The spaceport included a vehicle processing facility, a launch complex, vehicle landing and recovery area, an astronaut training facility, lodging, and other support facilities. The launch pad covered 3,000 square meters; the landing pad would be located 6.1 km north of it.

Bohai Null

Borkum Null

Camp de Suippes Test rocket launch location.

Cape Canaveral America's largest launch center, used for all manned launches. Today only six of the 40 launch complexes built here remain in use. Located at or near Cape Canaveral are the Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, used by NASA for Saturn V and Space Shuttle launches; Patrick AFB on Cape Canaveral itself, operated the US Department of Defense and handling most other launches; the commercial Spaceport Florida; the air-launched launch vehicle and missile Drop Zone off Mayport, Florida, located at 29.00 N 79.00 W, and an offshore submarine-launched ballistic missile launch area. All of these take advantage of the extensive down-range tracking facilities that once extended from the Cape, through the Caribbean, South Atlantic, and to South Africa and the Indian Ocean.

Cape Karikari Sounding rocket launch location known to have been used for 7 launches in 1965, reaching up to 88 kilometers altitude.

Cape Parry Sounding rocket launch location on DEW (Distant Early Warning) line.

Carnarvon Location of a major NASA tracking station, also used for sounding rocket launches.

Cassino Sounding rocket launch location.

CELPA Sounding rocket launch location.

Charlestown Sounding rocket launch site, used from 1965. One launch in 1991 reached 90 kilometers altitude.

Chelkar SP-5 tactical missile site.

Chiha-ri Sounding rocket launch location.

Chilca Chilca Launch Range. Sounding rocket launch location.

China The history of rocket and space development in China.

China Lake US Navy aviation ordnance and rocketry development and test center, in operation since 1943 as the Naval Ordnance Test Station (NOTS) .

Cold Lake Sounding rocket launch location.

Coronie Sounding rocket launch location.

Cuxhaven As the only site in Germany with an unrestricted over-water firing sector over the North Sea, Cuxhaven was once touted as 'the Cape Canaveral of Germany'. Primarily known to space historians for the three post-war V-2 launches under project Backfire, it played an important role in the nascent post-World War II German rocketry. A nearly completely unknown series of scientific sounding rocket launches were made from the area in 1957-1964 before the launch site was closed on (purportedly) safety and (actually) military grounds.

Datil Military testing range.

Dbayeh Dbayeh launch site

Derzhavinsk Headquarters of an RVSN Division, 1965-1996. ICBM base. Operated 52 heavy ICBM silos (R-36/R-36M2).

Deversoir Deversoir Air Base

Dombarovskiy Headquarters of an RVSN Division, 1964-present. ICBM base. Operated 64 heavy ICBM silos (R-36/R-36M). Two silos were modified to launch surplus R-36M missiles as orbital launch vehicles.

Drovyanaya Headquarters of an RVSN Division, 1965-present. Base for a peak of 90 light ICBM silos (UR-100/UR-100N). Number had declined to 50 by 1993.

Dumont d'Urville Sounding rocket launch location.

Eareckson Eareckson Air Station. Sounding rocket launch location.

East Quoddy Sounding rocket launch location.

Edwards Edwards Air Force Base, originally known as Muroc Field, is the main test flight center for the US Air Force. It has been used since the 1940's for flight test of advanced aircraft, rocketplanes, and air-dropped aerospace vehicles launched from B-29, B-50, B-52, F-15, 747 or L-1011 carrier aircraft.

Eglin This US Air Force proving ground and missile test range, based in Valparaiso, Florida and extending over a vast expanse of the Gulf of Mexico, was founded in 1935, In early 1946 the First Experimental Guided Missiles Group was activated at Eglin. The highly-instrumented Eglin Gulf Test Range supported flight tests of Bomarc, Matador, Quail, and Hound Dog cruise missiles. Both the military and NASA used Eglin to support launch of sounding rockets in support of their programs. The actual number of missile tests was many times greater than listed here.

El Arenosillo Spanish sounding rocket launch location.

Ellsworth AFB Titan I and Minuteman ICBM base 1962-1994. Ellsworth hosted the unique 'Long Life' test of a Minuteman ICBM in 1965. This was the only launch of an ICBM from an operational inland US missile site.

Elmendorf AFB Elmendorf AFB

Emba Sounding rocket launch location.

Eniwetok Eniwetok Proving Grounds. Nuclear test site. Sounding rockets were launched from here to monitor nuclear blast effects and fallout.

Esrange Alternate name for [Kiruna].

Eunyul North Korean missile launch position.

Fort Bliss Military testing range. In use from 1945 to present.

Fort Churchill Fort Churchill is an Arctic site on Hudson Bay with a rail link. It is near the point of maximum auroral activity. This combination of circumstances made it ideal for far-north sounding rocket launches. In 1954, the Canadian Army conducted the first series of rocket firings at Fort Churchill. Following a period of inactivity, construction of more elaborate facilities in support of the International Geophysical Year began in 1956. IGY firings began in July 1957. The range was closed again in December 1958 after the IGY program ended. It was reopened again in August 1959 by the US Army as part of its network of sounding rocket stations. This allowed use of the site by other groups over the years.

Fort Greely In 2004 Fort Greely, Alaska, became the first launch site for the anti-ballistic missile Ground-Based Interceptors of the United States' Ground-based Midcourse Defense system. The 260,000-hectacre site was located 160 km southeast of Fairbanks, 16 km south of the town of Delta Junction.

Fort Sherman US Army base and sounding rocket launch location.

Fort Wainwright Fort Wainwright

Fort Wingate Fort Wingate Depot Activity. Military testing range.

Fort Yukon Sounding rocket launch location.

Gan Island Sounding rocket launch location.

Gillam Sounding rocket launch location.

Gilson Butte Military testing range. In use from 1964 to 1970.

Gitdaeryung North Korean intermediate missile base, south east of Wonson, said to be capable of launching Scud-C's, SCUD-X's and Nodong-A ballistic missiles.

Gladkaya Headquarters of an RVSN Division, 1961-present. Base for units operating 90 light ICBM (UR-100/UR-100N) silos. By 1993 number of active silos was down to 40.

Goeseong Null

Goheung South Korean space center, built on Woenaro Island, off the Goheung peninsula, at the southern end of the Korean peninsula. The space center would be built in four phases through 2015 on a 4.95 million square meter landfill on the shore of the island.

Goseong Null

Goseung Null

Grand Turk Island Grand Turk Auxiliary AFB.

Great Mercury Island Open field site on Great Mercury Island off the Coromandel Coast of New Zealand used for launches of the commercial Atea sounding rocket.

Green River Military testing range used to launch several hundred Athena rockets from 1964 to 1973. These sent re-entry test vehicles or anti-ballistic missile targets to impact points in the US Army's White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. This was one of the few examples of sustained interstate missile tests within the United States.

Guam Sounding rocket launch location.

Haikou Sounding rocket launch location for rockets reaching 120 - 300 km altitude. Construction began in 1986 and the site was inaugurated in 1988. The site includes a single launch pad, a buried control bunker, tracking radars and payload processing buildings. After known use in 1988-1991, it was used again for military launches from 2017.

Hainan Chinese launch site for sounding rocket launches; not related to Wenchang orbital launch site on Hainan Island.

Hall Beach FOX-MAIN DEW site. Sounding rocket launch location known to have been used for 7 launches in 1971, reaching up to 270 kilometers altitude.

Hammaguira The constellation of launch complexes and nuclear weapons test sites established by France in Algeria began with the Special Weapons Test Center (CIEES). This began operations at Colomb-Bechar, Algeria, on April 24, 1947. Development of the larger Veronique series required a new facility. This went into operation at Hammaguir, 120 km southwest of Colomb-Bechar, in May 1952. The evacuation of these launch sites was a condition of the final agreement signed in March 1962 that ended the Algerian Civil War. The sites continued in use until finally turned over to the Algerian government on 1 July 1967. French missile test activities moved to Biscarosse, in France, and orbital launches to Kourou, in French Guiana.

Hampstead Located one mile west of Topsail Beach

Harbin Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China. Chinese manufacturer of spacecraft.

Hebrides Range Null

Heidekraut German test range for production V-2 missiles.

Heidelager Truppenubungsplatz Heidelager. German test range for production V-2 missiles.

Holloman Holloman Air Development Center. Military missile and sounding rocket launch site. Also notable for several rocket-powered sleds, used to test a variety of manned and unmanned aircraft and aerospace vehicles at supersonic speeds.

Hwangju North Korean missile launch position.

Ile du Levant In October 1950 a military missile test site was established at the French naval base on the Ile du Levant, an offshore island in the Mediterranean near Toulon. This was named CERES (Special Weapons Research and Tests Center) in 1952 and replaced a beach site at Pampelone used for ad-hoc launches since 1948. In 1968 it was expanded to include the La Renardiere site on Pont ST Mandrier and renamed CEM (Mediterranean Test Center). La Renardiere had been used in 1945 for testing the first French liquid propelled rocket, the EA 41.

Jabal Hamzah Missile launch site.

Jebel Himreen Missile launch site.

Jianshui Null

Jingyu Chinese ICBM missile test site. Not used for satellite launches to date.

Jiu Peng Jiu Peng air base, Pingtung, Formosa

Jiuquan China's first launch center, also known as Shuang Cheng Tzu. Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre, situated at 100 degrees East, 41 degrees North, is located in the Jiuquan Region, Gansu province, north-western China. It was China's first ballistic missile and satellite launch center.

Johnston Island US military base on this island in the Pacific Ocean. Used for rocket-launched nuclear tests in the 1950's. In the 1960's it was the site for the operational AFP-437 anti-satellite system. The system was retired in 1975. Several sounding rockets were also launched over the years, either in support of nuclear tests or in experiments related to anti-satellite technology.

Kagoshima Japanese launch center for solid fueled sounding rockets and satellite launchers. Limited to two months a year due to disturbance of local fisheries.

Kalam Island Indian missile base, used for Agni tests.

Kansk Base for units deployed with 27 RT-2PM missiles.

Kapani Tonneo In December 1975 Otrag signed an agreement with the Congolese government to established a rocket range to test its low-cost rockets deep in the interior at Shaba (Katanga) province. The austere site included logistic support via antique British Argosy transports landing at a dirt strip on a plateau overlooking the jungle. Here a pad and gantry were erected and flight tests began in 1977. However Otrag's activities made the great powers nervous. The USSR was not interested in Germany achieving an indigenous long-range rocket activity. The government of the Congo was pressured by the USSR to withdraw permission to use the site. Otrag was thrown out of the country in April 1979.

Kapustin Yar Russia's first missile test range and used for satellite launches of smaller Kosmos vehicles. V-2's launched from here in 1946 were the first ballistic missiles fired on Soviet territory. It was greatly expanded as the test site for innumerable Soviet intermediate and short range missile projects in the 1950's. Kapustin Year was also headquarters of the first operational R-1/R-2 units, 1950-1953, and later a base for 12 operational R-14 missile launchers.

Kartaly Kartaly-6. Headquarters of an RVSN Division, 1965-present. Base for 46 heavy ICBM (R-36/R-36M) silos.

Kerguelen Kerguelen Range. Sounding rocket launch location.

Kermanshah Kermanshah Air Base

Keweenaw Keweenaw Rocket Launch Site. In 1962 the University of Michigan proposed a launch site near the center of the North American continent. This would fill in a gap in the US Army's Meteorological Rocket Network. Following a survey of available sites a location on the Keweenaw Peninsula in Lake Superior was selected. The site was in use from 1964-1971.

Kheysa Soviet arctic sounding rocket launch site.

Kindley Kindley AFB. Weather rocket launch site.

Kirkuk Null

Kiruna The sounding rocket launch site at Kiruna was officially opened in September 1966 under the auspices of ESRO (European Space Research Organisation). When ESA was created in 1972 and replaced ESRO, Kiruna came under the management of the Swedish Space Corporation, a state-owned limited liability company under the Swedish Ministry of Industry. The 'Esrange' is located 45 km from the town of Kiruna and has seven permanent pads able to launch the largest sounding rockets, including the Black Brant 9, Skylark 12, and Castor 4B-boosted vehicles.

Kodiak In January 1998, the Alaska Aerospace Development Corporation began building a commercial spaceport at Narrow Cape on Kodiak Island, about 400 km south of Anchorage and 40 km southwest of the City of Kodiak. Kodiak Island was advertised as one of the best locations in the world for polar launch operations, providing a wide launch azimuth and unobstructed downrange flight path.

Kola Peninsula Launch Area Submarine-launched ballistic missile launch area known to have been used for 3 launches in 1961, reaching up to 150 kilometers altitude.

Koroni Sounding rocket launch location. Beach launch area.

Kostroma Headquarters of an RVSN Division, 1961-present. Operated 90 light ICBM silos (UR-100). 60 of these were later converted to MR-UR-100. After these were retired 12 RT-23 mobile launchers were headquartered here.

Kourou After the agreement with newly independent Algeria for France to evacuate their launch sites in that country, a location near Biscarosse was selected for French missile testing. However since only launches westwards across the Bay of Biscay could be made from this site, it was unsuitable for France's Diamant orbital launch vehicle. After reviewing 14 potential sites, a location in the South American French colony of Guiana was selected. This would allow over-water launches to a tremendous range of possible orbital inclinations -- from -100.5 deg to 1.5 deg. Being near the equator, it would provide the maximum assist from the earth's rotation for launches into equatorial orbits. The decision was formalized in April 1964 and in July 1966 ELDO chose the site for future launches of the Europa II launch vehicle.

Kronogard Sounding rocket launch location.

Kurdistan Null

Kusong Null

Kwajalein The US military base located on this Pacific island group has major tracking facilities and is near the impact area for dummy warheads fired by ICBM's from Vandenberg AFB. It is a key test location for anti-ballistic missile systems.

Lake Isabella Null

Lancelin Sounding rocket launch location.

Laogang Sounding rocket launch location.

Las Palmas Sounding rocket launch location.

Le Cardonnet Test rocket launch location.

Leach Spring Leach Spring

Leba Sounding rocket launch location.

Leping Leping missile base

Little Carter Bay Sounding rocket launch location.

Makat Tactical missile base.

Mar Chiquita Sounding rocket launch location.

Marambio Sounding rocket launch location.

Marka Marka Range. Sounding rocket launch location.

Mashad 14th Tactical Air Base.

Matagorda Island Launch site for sounding rockets and commercial launch vehicles. Good site for southerly launches into a variety of orbits but no tracking facilities.

McGregor SpaceX McGregor Test Site

McMurdo Station Sounding rocket launch location.

Mediterranean sea Drop zone over the Mediterranean Sea for air-launched Israeli antimissile target launches.

Mercury Site Sounding rocket launch location for support of nuclear tests.

Midway Midway Island is approximately half way between North America and Asia. The uninhabited place was seized as an American possession in 1903 to provide a base for the first transpacific cable. It was later developed into a naval air station and figured importantly in early military and commercial aviation as a refuelling point for transpacific flights. It consists of two major atolls, Sand Island and Eastern Island, both of them almost entirely taken up by airfields.

Minakh Syrian missile base north of Alleppo.

Mojave Mojave Spaceport. Location of Scaled Composites flight test facility, and the first FAA-certified inland spaceport. It was used for 17 launches of the Tier One manned spaceplane from 2003 to 2004, reaching up to 112 kilometers altitude.

Molodezhnaya Sounding rocket launch location.

Mupyong Null

NAMFI The NATO Missile Firing Installation is NATO's main Firing Range. It is located on the island of Crete, outside the town of Chania.

NAOTS F2H aircraft flying from this Naval Air Station launched Rockair sounding rockets in 1955, known to have been used for 5 launches, reaching up to 55 kilometers altitude.

Naro Null

Natal Sounding rocket launch location.

Negev Negev Desert test site. Military testing range.

Nenoksa Primary missile testing range of the Russian Navy. The number of actual missile tests was in the hundreds.

Nevada Test Site Nuclear test site. Sounding rockets and test vehicles have been launched in support of US nuclear weapons development from the site since the 1950's.

Niijima Sounding rocket and test vehicle launch site.

Nissaki-Karystos Sounding rocket launch location.

Nizhniy Tagil Headquarters of an RVSN Division, 1961-present. Base for units deployed with R-16 ICBM, much later 45 RT-2PM mobile missiles.

North Ossetia Possible Iskander launch point.

North Pole North polar submarine launch area.

North Pyongan North Korean missile launch position.

Nouadhibou Sounding rocket launch location.

Novaya Zemlya Sounding rocket launch location known to have been used for 2 launches in 1961, reaching up to 100 kilometers altitude.

Obachi Location used for release and launch of balloon-launched Kappa sounding rockets in 1961.

Okhotsk Sounding rocket launch location; offshore point used for launch of SLBM's from submarines.

Omsk Base for units deployed with launchers for the R-9 ICBM.

Overberg The Overberg Test Range (OTR) was developed by the Houwteq organization in the 1980's as part of South Africa's ballistic missile and R5b space program. It was located at the southernmost tip of Africa on the south-eastern coast of the Western Cape at Latitude 34 deg 35 min S and Longitude 20 deg 19 min E. The facility had a total area of 43,000 hectares.

Pacific Ocean Null

Palmachim Israeli Air Force Test Range. Israeli coastal missile test site from which the Shavit satellite launch vehicle is also launched. A due-west launch over the Mediterranean is required to avoid overflying Arab countries, resulting in unique orbital inclinations and directions.

Pameungpeuk Sounding rocket launch location.

Peenemuende Heersversuchsstelle Peenemunde. First launch site in the world, used for development of the V-1, A-4/V-2, Wasserfall, and other missiles. Among many major facilities, engine test stands were built that were capable of accommodating planned engines for the A-10 intercontinental missile. 296 known launches were made from the site between 1937 and 1945; the actual number of launches was much greater.

Plesetsk Plesetsk was the Soviet Union's northern cosmodrome, used for polar orbit launches of mainly military satellites, and was at one time the busiest launch center in the world. The collapse of the Soviet Union put the main launch site of Baikonur in Kazakh territory. It now seems that once the Proton rocket is retired, Baikonur will be abandoned and Plesetsk will be Russia's primary launch center. Upgrades to existing launch facilities will allow advanced versions of the Soyuz rocket and the new Angara launch vehicle to be launched from Plesetsk. Plesetsk's major drawback was the lower net payload in geosynchronous orbit from a northern latitude launch site. However Russia is planning to remove the disadvantage by looping geosynchronous satellites around the moon, using lunar gravity to make the necessary orbital plane change.

Point Arguello Naval Missile Facility. The US Navy had established a Naval Air Facility at Point Mugu for cruise missile test in November 1945. After the Air Force had acquired the northern part of Camp Cooke from the Army for use as Vandenberg AFB, the surplus southern portion of the former camp, encompassing over 19,800 acres, was transferred to the U.S. Navy in May 1958. The Navy subsequently established a Pacific Missile Range with headquarters at Point Mugu and instrumentation sites along the California coast and at various islands in the Pacific.

Point Barrow Sounding rocket launch location.

Point Mugu Naval Missile and Astronautics Center. US Naval Air Station and major missile testing center. The actual total of missile tests is many times greater than those listed.

Poker Flat Sounding rocket launch site. In use from 1969 to present. Poker Flat Rocket Range (PFRR) contains five major launch pads. Pads 1 and 2 each have a 7.5K launcher, pads 3 and 4 each contain 20K MRL launchers, and pad 5 contains a 4K twin boom launcher. Pad 3 is equipped with a moveable launcher enclosure which can be used to protect a rocket on pad 3 and workers from the severe winter weather.

Primrose Lake Sounding rocket launch location.

Puente del Inca Sounding rocket launch location.

Pukchang Null

Pyongsong Null

Pyongyang-Sunan, N.K. Null

Qom Military testing range, located near this Iranian religious center.

Ramey Ramey AFB. Sounding rocket launch site used in support of high-altitude monitoring after Project Argus nuclear tests. Six launches in 1958 reached up to 825 kilometers altitude.

Rarotonga Sounding rocket launch location.

Red Lake Sounding rocket range, known to have been used for 23 launches in 1979, reaching up to 215 kilometers altitude.

Reggane Sounding rocket launch location.

Resolute Bay Sounding rocket launch location. Magnetic North Pole Station.

Roswell Null

Rothera Sounding rocket launch location.

Ryori Sounding rocket launch location.

Sa'dah Scud launch site from Yemeni airfield.

Salto di Quirra Salto di Quirra, in southeast Sardinia near the town of Perdas de Fogu, is an inter-service missile test center operated by the Italian Air Force. It also supports sounding rocket launches and test of larger rockets in support of Italy's abandoned ballistic missile and on-and-of satellite launcher programs.

San Clemente San Clemente Island, Pacific Missile Range. Military facility on the California Channel Islands, used for rocket launches in support of other missile tests from Vandenberg or Point Mugu. In use from 1957. Plans were made for an off-shore launch platform here for the Starstruck vehicle.

San Francisco San Francisco International Airport

San Marco San Marco Launch Complex. In 1962 NASA signed an agreement with the Centro Ricerche Aerospaziali at the University of Rome creating the San Marco program. The purpose of the program was to place an Italian satellite in orbit and to create an Italian equatorial launch site for the Scout rocket. Permission was obtained from Kenya to emplace two modified oil platforms off their coast, on the equator. The Santa Rita platform would serve as a launch control center and would also be used for launch of sounding rockets. The San Marco platform would be dedicated to launch of Scout rockets to orbit.

San Nicolas San Nicolas Island, Pacific Missile Range. Military facility on the California Channel Islands, used for rocket launches in support of other missile tests from Vandenberg or Point Mugu.

Santa Barbara Channel DZ Air-launched rocket drop zone known to have been used for 6 launches in 1958, reaching up to 12 kilometers altitude.

Santiago Ixcuintla Sounding rocket launch location.

Sary Shagan Primary Soviet anti-ballistic missile test site. The actual number of missile tests ran into the thousands.

Scud Batteries Mobile Iraqi Scud batteries were used to strike targets in Israel and Saudi Arabia.

Sea Launch Area Category of launch sites.

Sea of Okhotsk Null

Semnan Launch site for Iran's Safir space launch vehicle.

Serrezuela Poligono de Salinas Grandes, Serrezuela, Cordoba

Shijiedu Sounding rocket launch location.

Sinpo North Korean missile launch position.

Siple Siple Station. Sounding rocket launch location.

Sohae Alternate name for [Tongchang-ri].

Somniani Null

Sonde Stromfjord The Danish Meteorological Institute established this sounding rocket range in 1971. The site was located next to an airport at the end of the fjord and was only occupied during launch campaigns. The location was well-suited for observation of the Arctic aurora and ionosphere.

Sonmiani Sounding rocket launch location.

South China Sounding rocket launch location known to have been used for 1 launch in 1995, reaching up to 100 kilometers altitude.

South Uist British missile test range, occupying a good portion of northwest South Uist island in the Hebrides. Aside from missile testing, it has also been used for launch of Skua and Petrel meteorological rockets.

Southend Sounding rocket launch location.

Sovetskaya Gavan Sounding rocket launch location.

Spaceport America Spaceport America was conceived in the early 1990s by the Southwest Space Task Force, a private group of New Mexican space activists. Studies led them to concentrate on 70 square-km of state-owned land, 72 km north of Las Cruces, New Mexico, near a locale known as Upham. In 2003 the governor and state legislature were finally sold on the idea of developing the site as America's premiere inland commercial spaceport.

Sriharikota India's primary space launch center, located on the east coast of the peninsula with a firing sector over the Bay of Bengal. In use from 1971 to present.

Sukchon Missile launch site.

Svalbard Null

SvalRak Sounding rocket launch site, in the arctic archipelago of Svalbard, provides unique conditions for rocket studies of the dayside polar cusp, cleft and cap. The site is ideal for scientific exploration of the dayside aurora and processes in the magnetospheric boundary layer.

Sverdlovsk Sverdlovsk air defence base.

Syowa Base Sounding rocket launch location.

Taean Null

Taiyuan Taiyuan Space Center. China's launch site for launch of polar orbiting satellites, also known as Wuzhai. Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center (TSLC) is situated in Kelan County, the northwest part of Shanxi Province, 280 km by road from Taiyuan City.

Tall Afar Tall Afar Air Base.

Tanegashima Tanegashima Space Center. Japan's main launch site for he larger N and H launch vehicles. In use for sounding rockets from 1967 and orbital launches from 1975.

Tartagal Sounding rocket launch location.

Tatishchevo Headquarters of an RVSN Division, 1964-present. Base for units deployed with 110 light ICBM silos (UR-100/UR-100N) and later ten RT-23 mobile ICBM launchers. A single live launch was known to have been made from here in 1987, reaching 1000 km altitude.

Tawiwa Libyan rocket test range, 600 km south of Tripoli. Site of tests of Otrag's low cost launch vehicle from 1981 to 1982, reaching up to 150 kilometers altitude.

Teikovo Headquarters of an RVSN Division, 1961-present, operating a peak of 90 light ICBM (UR-100/UR-100N) silos. By 1993 the number of operational silos had declined to 26.

Thule AFB Air Force base also used for sounding rocket launches.

Thumba Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launch Station. Sounding rocket launch location.

Tilla Tilla Firing Range, Malute, Jhelum region, Punjab, Pakistan

Tonopah Tonopah Test Range. Sounding rocket and test vehicle launch site. Conducted launches in support of US nuclear weapons development programs.

Toulon Null

Tripoli Tripoli missile base.

Tyumen Headquarters of an RVSN Division, 1961-1964. Base for units deployed with nine R-9 launchers. Moved to Aleisk.

Umm Qasr Umm Qasr

Urda Tactical missile launch site.

Urumqi Chinese mobile long range ballistic missile test area.

Uzhur Headquarters of an RVSN Division, 1965-present. The division operated 64 heavy ICBM silos (R-36). By the 1990's these were supplemented with 12 RT-23 launchers.

V-2 Battery 444 V-2 battery 444 was assigned to the northern group of V-2 mobile launchers and began operations on 31 August 1944, with the first successful launch on 2 September 1944. V-2 Gruppe Nord launchers were distributed along the English Channel, in a restricted zone north and south of The Hague, which included Hoek den Holland, Den Haag, and Wassenaar, all used for launches against London. On 28 January 1945 Battery 444 moved to Burgsteinfurt in the southern group of V-2 launchers, and continued operations with launches against Antwerp and Lille.

V-2 Battery 485 V-2 batteries 1./485, 2./485 and 3./485 were assigned to the northern group of V-2 mobile launchers around the Hague and began operations on 3 September 1944, with the first successful launch on 8 September 1944. In late October 1944 3./485 was moved to Burgsteinfurt, and conducted operations from the southern group with launches against Antwerp and Lille. All units of battery 485 ended operations in the face of allied advances in the last days of March 1945.

V-2 Battery 836 V-2 batteries 1./ 836, 2./836, and 3./836 were part of the southern group of V-2 mobile launchers based in the Ardennes forest and kept a constant barrage against Paris, Lille, and other French towns for three weeks from 10 September 1944. Focus then shifted to the Allied port facilities at Antwerp from 19 October until the end of March 1945. After retreating farther into Germany, on 8 April the battery destroyed its rockets and launching equipment and ceased to exist.

V-2 Battery SS Abt 500 V-2 Battery SS Abt 500 was first assigned to the southern group of V-2 mobile launchers and began operations near Breitenfurt on 10 October 1944. Just over a month later it was moved to the northern group near the Hague. It operated from various locations there until forced cease operations and retreat before the Allied advance on 28 March 1945.

Vandenberg Vandenberg Air Force Base is located on the Central Coast of California about 240 km northwest of Los Angeles. It is used for launches of unmanned government and commercial satellites into polar orbit and intercontinental ballistic missile test launches toward the Kwajalein Atoll.

Vernon Test rocket launch location.

Vik Sounding rocket launch location.

Villa Reynolds Villa Reynolds Air Base. Sounding rocket launch location.

Visakhapatnam Visakhapatnam

Vorkuta Sovetskiy R-12 missile deployment area.

Wake Island US Pacific test vehicle launch site. In use from 1974 for launches of re-entry test vehicles and anti-ballistic missile targets.

Walker AFB Operational US Atlas F (SMS 579) ICBM base, location of several fuelling accidents in 1963-1964.

Wallops Island Wallops Flight Facility. Small NASA launch site for sounding rocket launches and occasional Scout launches to orbit. Air launches are conducted from the Drop Zone Wallops Island, 37.00 N 72.0 W. With the last orbital launch in 1985 and the decline in sounding rocket launches, Wallops fell into near-disuse as a launch center. Its fortunes revised with the establishment of Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport in 2005 and orbital launches resumed in 2010.

West Texas Null

White Sands White Sands Missile Range occupies an area 160 x 65 km in the Tularosa Basin of southern New Mexico, across the Sacramento Mountain range from Roswell. In the 1930's, Robert Goddard, after surveying weather conditions and population densities, had selected Roswell for his pioneering rocket tests. White Sands, a true desert area, was even more unpopulated than Roswell. German advances in rocketry during World War II impelled the US Army to begin programs to exploit this technology. The White Sands Proving Ground was established for testing German and American long-range rockets on 9 July 1945. Seven days later the first atomic bomb was exploded at Trinity Site, near the north boundary of the range. The first launch of a Tiny Tim rocket was on 26 September 1945. On 11 October a Tiny Tim boosted a WAC Corporal rocket from the tower. This was the first use of Launch Complex 33, later to be used for V-2, Nike, Viking, Corporal, Lance and Multiple Launch Rocket System testing.

White Sea Null

White Sea Launch Area Submarine-launched ballistic missile area.

Wonsan Null

Woomera Woomera Instrumented Range. After World War II British government recognized the need for a large range to test the incredible array of long-range missile systems then planned. After considering sites in Canada, it was decided that Australia would best meet the projected needs. The Long Range Weapons Establishment was created on 1 April 1947 as a joint British/Australian enterprise. 23 days later the name Woomera (an aboriginal word of atlatl, or spear thrower) was selected for the new town to be built as its administrative center. Woomera town peaked at a population of 6,000 in the 1960's. Thereafter the progressive cancellation of British missile and space projects put Woomera went into sustained decline. However it played a key role in the history of rocketry, including orbital launches or launch attempts by Black Arrow, Sparta, and Europa boosters.

Xichang Xichang Space Center . China's launch site for geosynchronous orbit launches. Xichang Satellite Launch Centre is situated in Xichang, Sichuan Province, south-western China. The launch pad is at 102.0 degrees East and 28.2 degrees North. The head office of the launch center is located in Xichang City, about 65 kilometers away. Xichang Airport is 50 km away. A dedicated railway and highway lead directly to the launch site.

Yasniy Alternate name of [Dombarovskiy] ICBM / orbital launch vehicle launch site.

Yellow Sea Launch Area Submarine-launched ballistic missile launch area.

Yemen Yemen received Scud Hwasong missiles from North Korea, which were used in the country's civil war.

Yuma Yuma Proving Ground. Sounding rocket launch location.

Yurya Headquarters of an RVSN Division, 1961-present. Base for units deployed with R-16 ICBM, much later 45 RT-2PM mobile missiles.

Zingst A simple launch pad was set up at this East German firing range on the Baltic Sea for some of the last firings of the MMR-06 sounding rocket.

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