Hi Folks
Hope this is not too far OT but since the best expertise are here, I hope
you will bear with me.
I have been wondering about the requirements of the ideal launch site and
how it compares with the present sites used by all the nations of the
world. How they weigh up and overcome the trade-offs for being in a less
than ideal location, etc. BTW, does anyone know of a good source, listing
all the launch sites around the world and their locations?
One of the obvious requirements of an ideal site it to be close to the
equator but it seems like very few heavily used sites are actually close
to the equator. So, how much penalty (fuel-wise, weight-wise, money-wise,
etc) is introduced by moving away from the equator?
Other requirements that spring to mind are not to launch over land,
getting the required inclination over sea and not be forced into
retrograde (like Israel, I think). Can anyone elaborate a bit more here?
What other requirements are important? What about west-coast vs
east-coast, any penalties/trade-offs here?
Sorry for being OT, perhaps reply off-list if you think its not of general
interest.
Regards
Willie
Willie Koorts
Cape Town, Observatory 33d 56' 03"S 18d 28' 36"E GMT + 2h
Wellington, South Africa 33d 38' 56"S 19d 00' 52"E GMT + 2h
For - Amateur Astronomy - Telescope Making - Satellite Tracking -
Visit .... http://www.saao.ac.za/~wpk/
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