Spaceport Sheboygan

Spaceport Sheboygan is a proposed spaceport in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.

Launch site

Sheboygan (Geographical coordinates: 43°45'3.6"N, 87°42'50.4"W) was first used as a site for launching suborbital rockets in 1995. More than 300 students from Wisconsin and neighboring states developed and ran experiments using eight foot rockets as part of a local Rockets for Schools program. 20 foot rocket were also launched with assistance from specialists. The maximum altitude of these rockets are usually in the range of 4900 feet (1500 meters). However some of these rockets, equipped with engines of M and N type reached altitudes of 9800 feet (3000 meters). Sheboygan's location west of a restricted airspace over a large lake is ideal for launching rockets and spaceships. An area of Lake Michigan has been restricted since the 1940s, when the United States military had an anti-aircraft training range at Camp Haven. The camp has been closed since 1959, and the site has been redeveloped as Whistling Straits golf course.

On a number of occasions Super Loki rockets were launched from Sheboygan by the Florida Space Institute, which reached maximum altitudes of 50 miles (80 kilometers).

Proposed spaceport

State Senator Joe Leibham and State Assembly representative Steve Kestell introduced legislation in the state legislature to create a Wisconsin Aerospace Authority in 2005. The proposed site has been endorsed by NASA astronauts like Jim Lovell. The bill was signed by Wisconsin governor James Doyle in April 2006. The authority was created to allow the proposed spaceport to use NASA funds. The proposal does not include using any public funds. The spaceport would become the only spaceport in the Midwestern United States if it gets developed.

Great Lakes Aerospace Science & Education Center

A space education and experience museum is also under separate consideration called the Great Lakes Aerospace Science & Education Center. The center would be located at the current site of the Sheboygan Municipal Auditorium and Armory. As of July 31, 2007, a sign is affixed to the front of the Armory building reading "Future site of the Great Lakes Aerospace and Science Center."