README for “Spaceports 2023-Present” dataset. U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) [distributor] 2025-05-29 ---------------------------------------------------------------- LINKS TO DATASET ---------------------------------------------------------------- A. Dataset archive link: https://doi.org/10.21949/1530699 B. NTAD catalog dataset link (Current Year): https://doi.org/10.21949/1529776 ---------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY OF DATASET ---------------------------------------------------------------- The Spaceports 2023-Present dataset is from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), and is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT)/Bureau of Transportation Statistics's (BTS's) National Transportation Atlas Database (NTAD). This layer is meant to be a reference layer and features public and private spaceport facilities in the United States. The information found on FAA’s Office of Spaceports was used in creating this layer by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), found here https://www.faa.gov/space/office_spaceports. These facilities support the launching and receiving of spacecraft into and from space. As a result, U.S. spaceports have a critical role in the growing global commercial space transportation industry. The FAA Office of Spaceports is responsible for development of policies that promote infrastructure improvements and strengthen the competitiveness of U.S. spaceports, supporting launch and reentry site licensing activities, providing technical assistance and guidance to existing and proposed new spaceports, and the domestic and global promotion of U.S. spaceports. The mission of the FAA’s Office of Spaceports is to enable the safest, most efficient network of launch and reentry spaceports in the world, along with a vision to advance a robust, innovative national system of spaceports supporting the U.S. as a global leader in the commercial space transportation industry. ---------------------------------------------------------------- TABLE OF CONTENTS ---------------------------------------------------------------- A. General Information B. Sharing/Access & Policies Information C. Data and Related File Overview D. Methodological Information E. Data-Specific Information for: Spaceports 2023-Present [datasets] F. Update Log ---------------------------------------------------------------- A. GENERAL INFORMATION ---------------------------------------------------------------- 0. Title of Dataset: Spaceports 2023-Present [dataset] 1. Description of Dataset: The Spaceports 2023-Present dataset is from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), and is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT)/Bureau of Transportation Statistics’ (BTS's) National Transportation Atlas Database (NTAD). This layer is meant to be a reference layer and features public and private spaceport facilities in the United States. The information found on FAA’s Office of Spaceports was used in creating this layer by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), found here https://www.faa.gov/space/office_spaceports. These facilities support the launching and receiving of spacecraft into and from space. As a result, U.S. spaceports have a critical role in the growing global commercial space transportation industry. The FAA Office of Spaceports is responsible for development of policies that promote infrastructure improvements and strengthen the competitiveness of U.S. spaceports, supporting launch and reentry site licensing activities, providing technical assistance and guidance to existing and proposed new spaceports, and the domestic and global promotion of U.S. spaceports. The mission of the FAA’s Office of Spaceports is to enable the safest, most efficient network of launch and reentry spaceports in the world, along with a vision to advance a robust, innovative national system of spaceports supporting the U.S. as a global leader in the commercial space transportation industry. 2. Dataset archive link: https://doi.org/10.21949/1530699 3. Authorship Information: Principal Data Creator or Data Manager Contact Information Institution: U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) Address: 1200 New Jersey Ave SE, Washington D.C. 20590 Contact: bts@dot.gov Data Distributor Contact Information Name: National Transportation Atlas Database (NTAD) Institution: U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), Office of Spatial Analysis and Visualization (OSAV) Address: 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE, Washington D.C. 20590 Email: ntad@dot.gov 4. Date of data collection and update interval: This dataset is updated as needed. 5. Geographic location of data collection: United States of America 6. Information about funding sources that supported the collection of the data: Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), Department of Transportation (DOT) ---------------------------------------------------------------- B. SHARING/ACCESS & POLICIES INFORMATION ---------------------------------------------------------------- 0. Recommended citation for the data: U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS). Spaceports 2023-Present [datasets]. https://doi.org/10.21949/1530699 1. Licenses/restrictions placed on the data: These data are in the Public Domain. 2. Was data derived from another source?: No. 3.This document was created to meet the requirements enumerated in the U.S. Department of Transportation's 'Plan to Increase Public Access to the Results of Federally-Funded Scientific Research' Version 1.1 << https://doi.org/10.21949/1520559 >> and guidelines suggested by the DOT Public Access website << https://doi.org/10.21949/1503647 >>, in effect and current as of December 03, 2020. ---------------------------------------------------------------- C. DATA & RELATED FILE OVERVIEW ---------------------------------------------------------------- 1. File List for the bts_NTAD_Spaceports.zip collection A. Filename: bts_NTAD_Spaceports_DMP.pdf Short description: A PDF file containing the Data Management Plan that was created for current and future management of the data and associated files. B. Filename: bts_NTAD_Spaceports_README.txt Short description: The README.txt file that includes human-readable information about the data, variable definitions, contact information, and other contextual information. The file you are reading now. C. Filename: NTAD2023_GDB_Final_Spaceports_2023_08_11.zip (Folder) Short description: File folders containing the geospatial data for Spaceports 2023-Present dataset. Names of the file folders are classified by publication year. Ca. Filename: NTAD2023_Spaceports_2023_08_11.gdb.zip (Folder) Short description: A folder containing the data products for Spaceports 2023-Present dataset classified by publication year and update date respectively. Cb. Filename: Spaceports.XML Short description: Text files containing key metadata and documentation information such as methodology, procedures, etc. Cc. Filename: Spaceports.xlsx Short description: Excel spreadsheet containing the dataset's data dictionary. D. Filename: bts_NTAD_Spaceports_METADATA.json Short description: The machine-readable .json metadata file based on DCAT-US metadata schema v1.1. ---------------------------------------------------------------- D. METHODOLOGICAL INFORMATION ---------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Description of methods used for collection/generation of data: The U.S. Spaceports layer was created by the Bureau and Transportation Statistics (BTS). The layer was created using publicly available spaceport information provided by the FAA at the following website https://www.faa.gov/space/spaceports_by_state. Each spaceport contained in the preceding link was transcribed to a single row in a tabular format with its respective attribute information. Each spaceport was then manually geocoded referencing each facilities’ address field. 2. Instrument- or software-specific information needed to interpret the data: The data and documentation files can be opened with Esri ArcMap and any GIS software package. ---------------------------------------------------------------- E. DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION ---------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Spaceports data table This dataset is updated as needed. Dataset Manager is contacted to verify changes to data resulting in NTAD update. The metadata is updated in the same manner. For the most recent data, please visit the NTAD catalog at https://doi.org/10.21949/1529776 A. Number of variables (columns): The data dictionary found in (PDF documentation) provides definitions for the variables B. Data Dictionary/Variable List: Because of the large number of variables, please refer to the Data Dictionary found within the file Spaceports.txt for names, definitions, and formats of variables. C. Missing data codes: None ---------------------------------------------------------------- F. UPDATE LOG ---------------------------------------------------------------- This bts_Spaceports_20250529_README.txt file was originally created on 2024-02-23 by Dominic Menegus, Geographer, dominic.menegus@dot.gov [Note changes or update to the readme.txt file, e.g.:] 2024-02-27: Original file created 2024-04-11: Reviewed, Edited, DOI Added 2025-05-29: File revision, including dataset descriptions and file organization