The first and largest space

launch facility, located in Kazakhstan, is Baikonur Cosmodrome. This spaceport began as a Soviet military rocket range and achieved its first orbital flight October 1957 (Sputnik 1). Following this success, the United States built its first major spaceport at Cape Canaveral in Florida as well as the Kennedy Space Center. A major European spaceport is the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana.