An Assessment of the Commercial Spaceport Ecosystem Through the Lens of Cape Canaveral Space Force Station

Abstract

The United States now finds itself in the enviable position of dominating the global space launch market. For the past decade, launch rates have risen from a dozen per year to weekly. The vast majority of this increase in activity has taken place on Florida's space coast and specifically at Cape Canaveral. Space Force officials now suggest that the launch rate at their range will approach daily cadence, a situation that offers to create a significant number of logistical challenges. This article explores those challenges and proposes a number of physical, legal, financial, and regulatory solutions.