Ortega Spaceport

  

Ortega Spaceport

Juan Alexander Sebastián Ortega Spaceport Puerto espacial de Juan Alexander Sebastián Ortega
Launch of a Turbo-G 100 rocket from Ortega Space Launch Complex 4
Named after	Juan Ortega
Formation	May 5, 1964 (1964-05-05)
Type	AASA joint facility / R3A facility
Headquarters	Pacífico Sur
Location	Punta Salinas, Pacífico Sur, K.S.
Official language	English, Spanish
Owner	AASA / R3A
Director	Samantha Bhakta
Budget	2.055 billion (2024)
Staff	14,777 (2024)

The Juan Alexander Sebastián Ortega Spaceport (Spanish: Puerto espacial de Juan Alexander Sebastián Ortega; also known as the Ortega Spaceport or Punta Salinas), located at Punta Salinas, Pacífico Sur, is one of the main field centers of the Royal Aeronautics and Aerospace Administration (R3A) and the primary launch center of Sierran spaceflight, research, and technology. It is one of the major joint space facilities of the Anglo-American Space Agency (AASA), an agency of the Conference of American States. It is named in honor of the late Juan Ortega, a Sierran civil engineer and economist, who was credited with introducing the Ortega efficiency. The Ortega Spaceport consists of over 640 buildings, constructed throughout approximately 11,520 acres (18 sq mi). The spaceport includes two airports, astronaut training and housing facilities, space vehicle manufacturing facilities, and a visitor center. Beginning with the Orion program, the Ortega Spaceport has been the primary launch control center for R3A's manned and unmanned missions. It is also the site of private multi-user launches with civil and commercial entities such as Overstars. At the time of its opening in 1964, the cost of construction and completion of the main Ortega Spaceport exceeded $50 million ($5 billion KSD in 2024), making it one of the most expensive individual projects financed and undertaken by the Sierran government at the time.

The Spaceport traces its origins to the Sierran Royal Air Force, which had established base operations along the eastern coast of Pacífico Sur in the 1950s. In a bid to drive economic development in Bajaría, Punta Salinas was selected as a candidate for R3A's plans to expand its footprint and space program with additional facilities across the Kingdom. R3A had two main facilities: Vandenberg Space Center in Kings and Pendleton Space Center in Laguna, although both locations were situated along the Pacific coast, facing westward, and located near major population centers. The location of Punta Salinas was chosen as it had open sea to the immediate north and east, and was located far closer to the equator compared to any part of Federal Sierra. Construction commenced in the late 1950s and was completed in 1964.

History

In 1959, during the height of the Space Race between the Western Bloc and Eastern Bloc, the R3A commissioned a special inquiry to assess its facilities and technological capabilities due to continued pressure and demand upstream to expand and grow the Kingdom of Sierra's space program. The R3A, in its infancy, had its main operations centered at two locations, one in North County, San Diego (Pendleton Space Center), and the other in unincorporated Steinbeck County, Kings (Vandenberg Space Center). The former served as the center for flight control and core R3A operations, while the latter served as the center for space launches. In 1960, the K.S. Parliament approved an appropriations bill which included over $50 million for a new spaceflight launch center and upgrades to existing space laboratories in San Diego. Bolstered by parliamentary funding and direction by Prime Minister Alfred von Schliefen, R3A director Yogi Campos created the Space Research Task Force, and selected Trent Swift to lead the group. Swift and the task force's engineers identified, scoped, researched, and evaluated potential candidate sites for future R3A facilities of various uses, including a potential replacement for the Vandenberg Space Center as the primary space launch site. Punta Salinas, a peninsula along the eastern coast of Pacífico Sur, was identified as a strong candidate for R3A facilities, based on the task force's criteria, and appeared on the task force's shortlist of Vandenberg's replacement.

Following Swift's tour of Punta Salinas, which had already begun hosting base operations for the Sierran Royal Air Force and had plans to expand the air force's presence, Punta Salinas was identified as one of the top three finalists. Before a decision was made, Governor of Pacífico Sur Adolfo Liendo arranged a special meeting with Swift and other key personnel, convincing the future potential and economic benefit of basing R3A's launch operations in Bajaría, in conjunction with the K.S. federal government's Vancouver–Cabo Connection Project.

Facilities

The Ortega Spaceport consists of 643 buildings, located throughout nearly 18 square miles on Punta Salinas. It includes the Ortega Spaceport Administrative Building, the Southern Operations Command Center, the Punta Salinas Training Center, the Space Industrial Support Facility, the Von Schliefen Research and Development Facility, and the Integrated Communications and Tracking Network Station. The majority of facilities located at the Ortega Spaceport house staffing, operations, equipment, and services directly related to the support and facilitation of space launches and recovery missions. The Spaceport also includes the Ortega Spaceport Visitor Center Complex, which consists of a museum, a public library, film and photo archives, art galleries, restaurants, and other amenities for both staff and visitors.

Two airports are also located on the Ortega Spaceport: the Punta Salinas Airfield, a military airport jointly operated by the Sierran Royal Air Force and the Sierran Royal Space Force; and the Juan Alexander Sebastián Ortega Airport, the civilian, public-facing airport for visitors and civilian employees.