Commonwealth Space Centre
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The Commonwealth Space Centre (CSC), commonly known as the Rodney Spaceport or the Landsborough Spaceport, is a Vodean and Commonwealth spaceport located on the Prince of Mounfolk Islands in Avalon, Vodeo. Operational since 1958, it is the launch site for the Ingerish Commonwealth Space Agency (ICSA), the rocket and space program of the Ingerish Commonwealth that began in the late 1940s. Commercial launches have also been conducted at the site since the 1970s.
The site was originally chosen in 1953 to serve as the launch site for the Ingerish rocket program, with construction commencing in 1954 and finishing in 1958. Small-scale tests were conducted in late 1958, with the first major rocket launch taking place in March 1959. The first Commonwealth satellite, Hope, was launched from the facility on November 17, 1959 on board an Arrow I rocket. The site was named the principal base of operations for the ICSA upon the latter's creation on January 1, 1960.
The majority of the facility is located on Rodney Island, the largest of the Prince of Mounfolk Islands, with a secondary launch site on Beacon Island; Stangs Island is part of the facility but is undeveloped. The islands are particularly suitable as a location for a spaceport as they meet two major criteria for such a site, those being a close proximity to the equator (170 km (105 mi) to the south) and having open water to the north, east, and west, ensuring that lower rocket stages debris fall away from inhabited areas. The site is located 5 km (3 mi) north of Landsborough, the principal town of the New Taredo Peninsula, and 24 km (15 mi) south-east of the provincial capital, Avington.