Are there any known reasons why there are no spaceports in the European Union?

Question

As far as I know, there are no spaceports in the European Union.

Why is it so?

You are correct, there are currently no space ports in Europe. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_rocket_launch_sites#Proposed_or_planned_spaceports_in_Europe for a few proposed ones. — PearsonArtPhoto, Jan 18 '19 at 13:44
@PearsonArtPhoto you have an answer to Excluding Russia, has Europe launched a single satellite or spacecraft into Earth's orbit and beyond from its own continent? that's helpful. — uhoh, Jan 18 '19 at 14:33
J.Doe are there parts of your question that aren't answered there? — uhoh, Jan 18 '19 at 14:35

Uwe · Answer 1 · 2019-01-21T09:03:42.143

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The area of the European Continent is too far away from the equator and there are very few places allowing an eastward orbital launch over an ocean. Used first stages should not crash on densely populated ground.

But French Guiana, where the Guiana Space Centre is located, is one of five French overseas departments and a part of the European Union. Overseas departments are integral parts of France and the European Union, they are represented in the the European Parliament and use the euro as their currency.

There have been a lot of historic rocket launch sites in European mainland used for suborbital launches, see this Wikipedia list.

A new spaceport is planned in Scotland for orbital launches, the Sutherland spaceport. Launches over the ocean are possible in north to northeast direction, but not in south to southeast. But when it is finished, it will be no European Union spaceport (if there is no escape from Brexit).

edited Jan 21 '19 at 09:03

answered Jan 18 '19 at 13:40

Uwe

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Esrange is mainland Europe, Maser 14 is slated for launch in June, reaching 240 km – Jan 18 '19 at 13:54
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Note that for this reason, Israel is the only country that launches retrograde, to the West. – geoffc Jan 18 '19 at 15:50
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The worlds busiest spaceport is at 63°N. The northern part of the EU is perfectly suitable for launches into polar orbit. – gerrit Jan 18 '19 at 17:40
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@gerrit: But what would be the point of building a spaceport only for polar orbits, when the existing Guiana one can do that? – jamesqf Jan 18 '19 at 18:33
@jamesqf That's what the organisations asked to fund a Esrange orbital spaceport are probably asking as well :) one answer could be that it saves a lengthy and perhaps risky journey across the Atlantic. – gerrit Jan 18 '19 at 18:44
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+1 for "Used first stages should not crash on a densily populated ground," which answers the title question nicely. – jpmc26 Jan 18 '19 at 19:45
@Uwe “too far away from the equator“ is not really an excuse because of gerrit's comment. I suggest to ease up that statement a little – Everyday Astronaut Jan 18 '19 at 19:55
@gerrit “lengthy and perhaps risky journey across the Atlantic“ check out Peter Beck's statements on that topic right here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Nj9BncsgvuQ – Everyday Astronaut Jan 18 '19 at 19:59
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While French Guiana is part of the European Union, being a French territory doesn't automatically make it part of the EU. Several French overseas territories aren't. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_the_European_Union#Physical_geography – Ross Ridge Jan 18 '19 at 20:40
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@RossRidge There are French overseas departments like French Guiana being part of the European Union and there are overseas collectivities of France like French Polynesia being no part of the European Union. See departments and collectivities. – Uwe Jan 19 '19 at 00:28
This also explains why NASA has always done launches from Florida. – JoL Jan 19 '19 at 00:42
@JoL NASA launches from California too, Vandenberg AFB. – user71659 Jan 19 '19 at 03:51
@user71659: But the launches from Vandenberg are mostly to reach polar orbit, since a polar launch from Kennedy would overfly either Cuba or densely-populated parts of the US East Coast.. – jamesqf Jan 19 '19 at 04:34

gerrit · Answer 2 · 2019-01-20T01:42:27.697

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There are currently suborbital spaceports.

Esrange in Sweden launches sounding rockets, including some up to 678 km. That's nearly 300 km higher than the International Space Station, so it is definitely possible to launch a payload into space from within the European part of the European Union. Esrange cannot yet launch into orbit, buth they plan to. Andøya Space Center also launches suborbital rockets, but it is in Norway and not in the EU (although it's pretty close to the EU politically and geographically).

The latitude is no fundamental objection, the most active spaceport in the world is at 63°N, so you can have spaceports at high latitudes. Low latitude is good for equatorial launches, high latitude is good for polar or retrograde launches. The reason there are no orbital launches from the European part of the EU is that (relatively) low-latitude sites in Europe are too busy and nobody has been willing yet to invest the necessary money at a high-latitude site, when European satellites can launch from French Guyana or Baikonur. The benefit of being within the EU and without crossing an ocean has so far not been considered worth the money.

edited Jan 20 '19 at 01:42

answered Jan 18 '19 at 17:28

gerrit

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sending launch vehicles in the direction of Russia has the potential to be misinterpreted. With launches from America there's enough time to recognise they are orbital before a counterstrike – Jan 18 '19 at 19:22
@JCRM True, a rogue balloon is bad enough!. Esrange already only launches straight north, there's too much population west (a 17k town 35 km away) or east (some 1500 people at a similar distance). IIRC they can only launch if there's less than 20 people in a 4000 km² zone or so (no launches in any direction during hunting season or certain reindeer seasons), so eastward orbital launches would not be an option anyway. If you have any other concerns I'm sure you can share them in any relevant consultation for Esranges plans :) – gerrit Jan 18 '19 at 19:42
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The latitude is an objection: it's a pain to get something into low equatorial orbit from 63º N. The Russians use Plesetsk because they've got a great deal of use for highly-inclined and retrograde orbits. – Mark Jan 19 '19 at 00:32
@Mark It's certainly an objection for equatorial orbits. It's actually an advantage for retrograde orbits, which includes most Earth observation satellites, because sun-synchronous orbits are retrograde. I've reformulated the sentence on the latitude being an objection or not. – gerrit Jan 19 '19 at 02:19
bit-o-history: Did the British Skylark ever launch from the UK? Also, as far as Esrange: Is 678 km the new altitude record for a rocket shot “straight up” (vertical launch)? and also Excluding Russia, has Europe launched a single satellite or spacecraft into Earth's orbit and beyond from its own continent? – uhoh Jan 20 '19 at 03:01

score 5 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 18 '19 at 16:32

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Aha! But there is at least one spaceport in the European Union.

Namely Guiana Space Centre located in French Guiana – French overseas territory and hence part of the EU.

answered Jan 18 '19 at 16:32

Geenimetsuri

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this information was already in @Uwe's answer – Jan 18 '19 at 18:43
I must say I did not meant the outer territories but due to this unprecise formulation this answer is formally correct, heh – J. Doe Jan 19 '19 at 19:53
Heh, indeed. I was pretty sure that you didn't mean EU, but rather "Europe west of Russia"(?). However, EU is not synonymous with that Europe, which my answer tries to highlight. – Geenimetsuri Jan 21 '19 at 08:10

score 2 · Answer 4 · edited Jan 20 '19 at 22:41

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Technically not part of the EU, per se, but part of the EEC, Norway has launched a lot of rockets. Andøya Space Centre (formerly Andøya Rocket Range) has launched 1 200 rockets since 1962.

Mainly sounding rockets (scientific rockets with instruments measuring stuff in sub-orbital flight) have been launched, but on September 27 2018 they launched Europe's first hybrid rocket in more than 50 years to cross the Karman line, the Nammo Nucleus.

edited Jan 20 '19 at 22:41

Nathan Tuggy

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answered Jan 20 '19 at 22:33

Canis

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@NathanTuggy True, but as we've both said, it's in the technicalities. They have launched to 107km, they are at least building an orbital delivery system. Planning started in 2013, and the hybrid launch in 2018 is a part of that progress. The Nammo Nucleus is integral to the North Star project. – Canis Jan 20 '19 at 22:50

Are there any known reasons why there are no spaceports in the European Union?

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