Kistler Aerospace Corporation was one of the first space ventures to develop a private launch vehicle named the K-1. It was a two-stage vehicle powered by liquid oxygen and kerosene engines (see animation video clip right). Both stages were fully reusable, returning to Earth by parachute. This project was an outline master plan for a K-1 commercial spaceport to be based at White Sands Missile Range (images right and below), a government-operated aerospace test range in New Mexico. A critical requirement was to ensure safety of operations and eliminate risks of fires and explosions from launch vehicles and stored propellants before, during and after launches. Major hazards include explosion over-pressure, flame, heat and falling debris. Dealing with these determined the spaceport layout and wide spacing of assembly and processing hangars, launchpads and propellant depots.