A
spaceport or
cosmodrome (,
kosmodrom) is a site for launching (or receiving)
spacecraft, by analogy with seaport for ships or airport for aircraft. The word
spaceport, and even more so
cosmodrome, has traditionally been used for sites that are capable of launching spacecraft
into orbit around Earth or on interplanetary trajectories. However, rocket launch sites for purely
sub-orbital flights are sometimes called spaceports, as in recent years new and proposed sites for suborbital human flights have been frequently referred to or named 'spaceports'.
Space stations and proposed future bases on the moon are sometimes called spaceports, in particular if intended as a base for further journeys.
