Abstrakt
In today's world, outer space is a relevant topic for discussion across all scientific disciplines, and political science is no exception. In the case of the geopolitics of space, it is a specific domain dealing with the geographical, physical, diplomatic, military, socio-economic, and environmental implications of space activities.
From the founder of the field, Everett Dolman, to contemporary authors such as Bleddyn E. Bowen, John J.
Klein and Eligar Sadeh, we have encountered the issue of the geographic position of spaceports in respect of their geopolitical effectiveness. The location of an individual spaceport should be chosen by considering a set of rules that help, for example, to save fuel, to place space objects in their intended orbit, or to ensure the safety of the space mission and people on Earth.
Typically, this involves placing spaceports close to the equator to allow for rocket launches in an easterly direction to take advantage of the Earth's rotation to gain the necessary velocity to overcome the Earth's gravitational pull. The advantage of areas with higher altitudes or suitable meteorological conditions can also be mentioned, but this list needs to be enriched with some political considerations.
The site of spaceports also needs to be examined regarding geographical accessibility, the presence of airspace of neighbouring states, and the overall political stability in the region. In the course of the research, the aforementioned geopolitical theses will be applied to the potentially new European spaceports which will serve as alternative to conditions provided by the European Space Agency's spaceport located in South American French Guiana