Paper Session I-A - Geographic and planning characteristics of commercial spaceports: Strategic policy considerations for their future

The presentation is based on two academic papers I previously wrote. I know the topic is broad but it addresses spaceports in a bigger light of regional issues required for a successful spaceport. Space is a geographic place from which numerous private and government entities operate just as terrestrial industries. Due to government policy changes in the late 1980s commercial space industries began to spin-off from the U.S. government space program and separately evolve. At the dawn of the 21st Century commercial space industries have stabilized into viable business industrial operations referred to as space commerce. Motivated by profit, a distinct geography of space commerce and spaceports are emerging from the geography of government space activities. It appears that the geography of space commerce and spaceports follows traditional neo-classical economic industrial location theory but with a few peculiarities