WHY spend MILLION$ to build "SPACEPORTS" ?

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WHY spend million$$$ to build "spaceports" ???


when suborbital planes with jets (like the EADS Astrium design) will
be available, every small jet-executives' airport around the world
will be sufficient for takeoff and landing




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One thing that I dont like about the EADS sub-orbital craft and others like it are that their technoloy is only likely to be pushed only so far before being abandoned. What is good for a sub-orbital craft will probably not be for an orbital one. At least EADS is looking to reuse the engines in its craft in other vehicles but it hard to see what else will be useful.

I suspect that any airport that this craft operates out of will need to be classified as a spaceport as well. Not sure whether normal airports are cleared to handle and store things like LOX and other liquid gases.

no, since it works like a jet executive, it's main tank will be o kerosene and a very small (pre-filled) tank of LOX (for its Ke/LOX small rocket engine)

NO need to store and handle LOX at he airports... that planes will stay in their own base, then will fly like common jet executives to the various small airports where the tourists wait them, so, after performed one+ suborbital flight(s) they'll refuel the kerosene tanks (like any airline jet) and come back to their base

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It will be storing LOX on the craft and will probably fill up at the airport just before they take of, nobody is going to fill up with LOX at another location then fly to an airport to pick up passengers. All this will require licensing and permission from the FAA.

Even if what you say is correct that the craft would have their "own base" this would in effect be a spaceport and require licensing as such, so there will still be a need for them. Nobody is allowed to do anything without regulation anymore.

who said it would fly from USA... it's an european project and the EADS planes could be sold and fly everywhere in the world... Europe, Russia, China, Singapore, India, Australia, Dubai, Egypt, Brazil, etc. etc. etc.

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You just answered your own question.

People will want to fly from the USA. Nobody is building 'spaceports' anywhere else.

Its not extra millions, building anything with lox handling costs millions in the U.S.

I've read about plans to build spaceports outside USA (like Singapore) however, one of the reason that there are not so many spaceports' project around, could be the simple fact that many (like me) have realized that they are unnecessary for EADS plane like suborbital flights (then they're a waste of money)

assuming the suborbital flights will be safe enough for tourists... "launch" them from just a few places could limit that business

LOX is not a problem since the EADS plane may come with pre-filled LOX tank from their base

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Kinda like, why build a seaport when you can launch your row boat at any beach?