The geographical area and its launch complex from which spacecraft are launched. Each complex includes launch pads and a control centre. The best location for a launch site is the Equator, which gives spacecraft a full free ride due to the Earth's rotation. However, the only major facility near the Equator is the European Space Agency's Centre Spatial Guyanais at Kourou in French Guiana.

Other sites, among more than a dozen in the world, include the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida, the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, and the Uchinoura Space Centre in Japan.