Considerations for a Spaceport in Venezuela: A Developing Country

Abstract

The reduction of components and the development of more powerful satellites with smaller dimensions have allowed an increasing number of users, including universities, research centers, and space agencies in developing countries, to have access to technologies and/or equipment that would have been impossible a few decades ago, paving the way for the development of low-cost space missions. However, the space drive in developing countries includes not only the acquisition of small satellite components, or the construction of CubeSats, but also the creation of spaceports, from which agencies could launch their own delivery vehicles. The rapid worldwide increase of CubeSats, and the long waiting periods between launches of the main payloads, prompted the present investigation, where the main factors to consider in the selection of a spaceport location were stipulated. Therefore, to meet the objective of studying the various factors, a series of points to be analyzed were established: low latitudes, azimuth limitations, natural factors, political and social considerations, airspace, accessibility, and political stability. After analyzing the factors, we proceeded to the analysis of various locations in Venezuela for small space vector missions, where starting from three possible locations and after analyzing each one, we obtained as a result “El Pao”, a location in the Venezuelan plains, far from urban centers, with good communication routes, latitude of only 9° and few azimuth limitations. However, the factors analyzed in this research are not exclusively framed in the Venezuelan space effort as they are common to any country wishing to establish a spaceport in its territory.