List of Space Shuttle landing sites. Three locations in the United States were used as landing sites for the Space Shuttle system. Each site included runways of sufficient length for the slowing-down of a returning spacecraft. The prime landing site was the Shuttle Landing Facility at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a purpose-built landing strip. Landings also occurred at Edwards Air Force Base in California, and one took place at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico. No Space Shuttle landed on a dry lakebed runway after 1991.

Various international landing sites were also available in the event of a Transoceanic Abort Landing (TAL) scenario, as well as other sites in the United States and Canada in case of an East Coast Abort Landing (ECAL) situation. Space Shuttle landings were intended to regularly take place at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California for Department of Defense missions launched from the site, but none occurred due to the cancellation of all launches from Vandenberg.

Kennedy Space Center 

The Shuttle Landing Facility at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida has a single  concrete runway, 15/33. It is designated Runway 15 or 33, depending on the direction of use. The first landing at the SLF was for mission STS-41B in 1984; landings were suspended at the site following brake damage and a blown tire during the STS-51D landing in 1985, and resumed in 1990. Thirty-six missions landed on Runway 15 and forty-two missions landed on Runway 33, accumulating a total of 78 missions.

Edwards Air Force Base 

Edwards Air Force Base in California was the site of the first Space Shuttle landing, and became a back-up site to the prime landing location, the Shuttle Landing Facility at the Kennedy Space Center. Several runways are arrayed on the dry lakebed at Rogers Dry Lake, and there are also concrete runways. Space shuttle landings on the lake bed took place on Runways 05/23, 15/33 and 17/35. Of the concrete strips, the main Runway 04/22 was utilized. During the renovation of 04/22, a temporary runway (with the same designation) was constructed parallel to it and used for one landing (STS-126). Five ALT free flights and 54 operational Space Shuttle missions landed on Edwards Air Force Base runways, making a total of fifty-nine.

White Sands 

White Sands Space Harbor at White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico was an emergency landing site for the Space Shuttle and was used as a backup when the runways at Edwards Air Force Base and the Kennedy Space Center were unavailable.  Two  runways and a  runway were available for landings on the dry lake bed. One mission, STS-3, used Runway 17 for a landing due to flooding at its originally planned landing site, Edwards Air Force Base.

Transoceanic abort landing sites 
In the event of an abort during launch, NASA had several international locations designated as transoceanic abort landing (TAL) sites.  The sites included Naval Air Station Bermuda, Lajes Air Base in Terceira island, Azores, Portugal, Zaragoza Air Base in Spain, Morón Air Base in Spain, and Istres Air Base in France. All sites have runways of sufficient length to support the landing of a Space Shuttle, and included personnel from NASA as well as equipment to aid a space shuttle landing. Zaragoza Air Base features Runway 30L with a length of ; Morón Air Base features an  runway; and Istres Air Base features Runway 33 with a length of . Former TAL sites include Diego Garcia in the British Indian Ocean Territory; Cologne Bonn Airport in Germany; Ben Guerir Air Base, Morocco (1988–2002); Casablanca, Morocco (up to 1986); Banjul International Airport, The Gambia (1987–2002); Dakar, Senegal; Rota, Spain; and Kano, Nigeria. Had a TAL situation arisen during a launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Hao and Easter Island in the Pacific Ocean would have been the TAL sites, as would Andersen AFB, Guam with one of the longest concrete runways in the world.

RAF Fairford was the only transoceanic abort landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK. As well as having a sufficiently long runway for a Shuttle landing (the runway is 3 km long), Fairford also had NASA-trained fire and medical crews stationed on the base.

East Coast abort landing sites 
In certain launch abort situations where the mission profile supports a trajectory for such a landing, runways on the East Coast of the United States and Canada could have been used for an East Coast abort landing (ECAL) situation.  The following sites could have been used for an ECAL:

Vandenberg Air Force Base 
Space Shuttle missions to be launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California were planned to conclude with a landing at Runway 12/30 at the site. The runway was lengthened to support shuttle landings. The first landing at Vandenberg was planned for mission STS-62-A, which was scheduled for launch in July 1986, but cancelled in the wake of the STS-51-L accident. No space shuttle operations or landings ever occurred at the site.

Other sites
The joint use civilian/military Lincoln Airport/Lincoln Air National Guard Base in Lincoln, Nebraska was designated as an alternate landing site for its 12,900 ft (3,932 m) long main runway.  Including 1000 ft over-runs on each end, the runway totaled almost 15,000 ft in length. The site also had low air traffic, both commercial and military. No space shuttle landing ever occurred there.

Amílcar Cabral International Airport on the island of Sal, Cape Verde, was another designated emergency landing site. Runway 01/19 at Amílcar Cabral International Airport is 10,735 ft long and is paved. No Space Shuttle landing occurred here either.
Also Gran Canaria Airport was used as a back-up site.

The French Istres-Le Tubé Air Base was also another designated site.

Emergency Landing Sites

Algeria
Aguenar – Hadj Bey Akhamok Airport, Tamanrasset

Australia
Kingsford-Smith International Airport, Sydney, New South Wales (until 1986)
RAAF Base Amberley, Ipswich, Queensland
RAAF Base Darwin, Darwin, Northern Territory
RAAF Base Pearce, Perth, Western Australia

Bahamas
Lynden Pindling International Airport, Nassau

Bermuda
NAS Bermuda, St. David's Island

Canada
CFB Goose Bay, Goose Bay, Labrador
CFB Namao, Edmonton, Alberta (until 1994)
Gander International Airport, Gander, Newfoundland
Stephenville International Airport, Stephenville, Newfoundland
St. John's International Airport, St. John's, Newfoundland
Halifax Stanfield International Airport, Halifax, Nova Scotia

Cape Verde
Amílcar Cabral International Airport, Sal Island

Chile
Mataveri International Airport, Easter Island

Democratic Republic of the Congo
N'djili Airport, Kinshasa (until 1997)

France
Istres-Le Tubé Air Base near Istres, France
Hao Airport, Hao, French Polynesia

The Gambia
Yundum International Airport, Banjul

Germany
Köln Bonn Airport, Cologne
Ingolstadt Manching Airport, Ingolstadt

Greece
Souda Air Base, Souda Bay, Crete

Iceland
Keflavík International Airport, Keflavík
Ireland

Shannon International Airport, Shannon, County Clare

Liberia
Roberts International Airport, Monrovia (until 1989)

Morocco
Ben Guerir Air Base, Morocco (1988-2002)
Mohammed V International Airport, Morocco (until 1986)

Portugal
Lajes Field, Lajes
Beja Airbase, Beja

Saudi Arabia
King Khalid International Airport, Riyadh

Spain
Zaragoza Air Base
Morón Air Base
Gran Canaria Airport, Gran Canaria

Somalia
Berbera Airport, Berbera (inactive since 1991)

South Africa
South African Air Force Base Hoedspruit

Sweden
Arlanda Airport, Stockholm

Turkey
Esenboğa International Airport, Ankara

United Kingdom
RAF Greenham Common, Berkshire, England (from 1981)
RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire, England
RAF Fairford, Gloucestershire, England
RAF Finningley, South Yorkshire, England (until 1996)
RAF Machrihanish, Campbeltown, Scotland
RAF Mildenhall, Suffolk, England
RAF Upper Heyford, Oxfordshire, England (until 1993)

British Overseas Territories
NAF Diego Garcia, British Indian Ocean Territory

United States
Andersen Air Force Base, Guam
Atlantic City International Airport, Pomona, New Jersey
Bangor International Airport, Bangor, Maine
MCAS Cherry Point, Havelock, North Carolina
Columbus Air Force Base, Columbus, Mississippi
Dover Air Force Base, Dover, Delaware
Dyess Air Force Base, Abilene, Texas
East Texas Regional Airport, Longview, Texas
Edwards Air Force Base, California
Ellsworth Air Force Base, Rapid City, South Dakota
Elmendorf Air Force Base, Anchorage, Alaska
Fort Huachuca, Arizona, Sierra Vista, Arizona
Francis S. Gabreski Airport, Long Island, New York
Grant County International Airport, Moses Lake, Washington
Grand Forks Air Force Base, Grand Forks, North Dakota
Griffiss International Airport, Rome, New York
Grissom Air Force Base, Kokomo, Indiana
Hickam Air Force Base, Honolulu, Hawaii
John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York, New York
Lehigh Valley International Airport, Allentown, Pennsylvania
Lincoln Airport, Lincoln, Nebraska
Mountain Home Air Force Base, Mountain Home, Idaho
Myrtle Beach International Airport, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Orlando International Airport, Orlando, Florida
Otis Air National Guard Base, Falmouth, Massachusetts
Pease Air Force Base, Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Plattsburgh Air Force Base, Plattsburgh, New York
Portsmouth International Airport, Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Stewart Air National Guard Base, Newburgh, New York
Westover Air Force Base, Chicopee, Massachusetts
White Sands Space Harbor, White Sands, New Mexico
Wilmington International Airport, Wilmington, North Carolina
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio

See also
 Space Shuttle emergency landing sites

References

External links
 Shuttle Landing Facility 
 Edwards Air Force Base
 Space Shuttle Worldwide Landing Sites

Landing Sites
Kennedy Space Center
Shuttle landing sites