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. 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 (image 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 overpressure, flame, heat and falling debris. Dealing

with these determined the spaceport layout and

wide spacing of assembly and processing hangars, launchpads and propellant depots (image right).