Commercial Spaceport Near Jacksonville Licensed For Horizontal Launches

Commercial space company Generation Orbit may launch its first payload from Cecil Field west of Jacksonville, FL as soon a late 2018 or 2019, according to spaceport officials.

Radio station WJCT reports that, speaking on the program First coast Connect, Spaceport director Todd Linder said that the company, which hopes to provide small satellite launch services from Cecil, may have its first launch later this year or early next. When that happens, it will likely be a government satellite.

Generation Orbit is a horizontal launch company. The began with a concept of suborbital launches, and are now looking at the possibility of providing orbital launch services. The orbital GO Launcher 2 would be carried to altitude by a modified Gulfstream IV business jet before being released. The launcher is a two-stage expendable rocket capable of placing small satellites into Low Earth Orbit.

The company is also developing the GOLauncher 3 Mini and the GOLauncher 3 Heavy, which would be carried to altitude by a larger aircraft, such as a DC-10, according to the company website. Those launchers could deliver payloads of up to 500 kg into a sun synchronous orbit. Both are in a preliminary design phase.

The FAA granted a commercial spaceport license to Cecil Field, a former Navy Master Jet Base, in 2010. It is the only licensed horizontal launch facility in the state of Florida.

(Image from file)

FMI: generationorbit.com, Original report