Questions tagged [launch-site]
Questions on launch complexes, spaceports or other locales for the launch of spacecraft.
176 questions
6votes
1answer
188views
What is the payload premium from an equatorial launch, (as compared with Cape Canaveral) to Geostationary Orbit?
SeaLaunch went to significant expense and effort to launch from sea surface on the equator. According to Sea Launch; Advantages of equatorial ocean-platform based launches The need for a "plane ...
- 33k
0votes
1answer
314views
What is this object seen above Starship before launching on IFT-6?
While watching Starship a few hours before the launch of IFT-6, I noticed an object (circled in red) above Starship (screenshot below). The launch video is too zoomed out/low resolution for me to ...
2votes
1answer
170views
Which areas would be suitable for a launch pad in Bangladesh? What factors should be considered?
Considering the vast open sea to the south and limited open sea to the east, which areas would be suitable? What factors should be considered?
- 121
1vote
0answers
38views
Does the TEL at SLC-40 handle Dragons the same way the TEL at LC-39A does?
The TEL (Transporter/Erector/Launcher) at LC-39A, needs serious changes to support a Falcon Heavy, seemingly taking it out of launch service for a week or two on either side of each launch. To launch ...
- 80.7k
0votes
2answers
257views
Mobile Launcher Design
When looking at the Apollo and space shuttle mobile launch platforms side by side, I noticed that the exhaust ports look different and judging by the internal structure of the platform, it seems that ...
- 319
2votes
1answer
603views
Why does the more complex looking Starship launch tower cost so much less than SLS' tower?
On the surface, you would think that SpaceX launch tower would be more costly with its mechanical arms, but I doubt it touches the cost of the SLS'. Is this mainly due to the use of hydrogen, or are ...
- 1,001
5votes
1answer
255views
Why is the American space program launch site based in Florida and not closer to the equator?
Why is the American space program launch site based in Florida and not closer to the equator? How about taking the ESA as an example and building a launch site on say American Samoa? Much closer to ...
4votes
0answers
183views
Why was the "lunar launch window" different between the Cape Canaveral and Baikonur launch sites?
I'm reading A Man on the Moon: The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts (page 78), and I was confused about this passage: As the fall of 1968 wore on, apprehension surfaced once more within NASA. Would ...
- 361
0votes
0answers
75views
Why is most of mission control in Houston? [duplicate]
They were already making a mission control at Cape Canaveral, and then decided to move some, but not all, of it to Houston. Why? Wouldn't it make more sense to have the entire mission control in one ...
10votes
2answers
566views
Proposed Christmas Island launch site, 1952 von Braun Luna Study
In a 1952 study, Wernher von Braun devised a "manned lunar lander" as illustrated below. The study looked at three lunar landers taking a crew of 50 to Sinus Roris (Bay of Dew) in 1977. ...
- 13.4k
1vote
2answers
608views
Why does Vandenberg have the most launches?
Why does Vandenberg SFB have the most launches? Is it related to location, when it was founded, something else, etc? It would make more sense for Florida to have more launches. It is illegal for ...
user47012
4votes
1answer
116views
What launch market is the new Shetland spaceport targeting?
The new spaceport on Shetland has now been given planning permission. It is at quite a high latitude (60 degrees north) which will effect the types of launch that are easily achievable so what is the ...
- 716
5votes
1answer
142views
What is the current turnaround time for Vandenberg SLC-4E?
Is there public knowledge for the turnaround time for this Falcon 9 B5 pad?
3votes
1answer
389views
What's the highest latitude for a human spaceflight?
There are obviously many satellites in polar orbits or in orbits that extend to very high latitudes. There are obvious reasons to do this in terms of Earth observations, but there is probabably much ...
- 3,974
2votes
0answers
312views
When and why was Cape Canaveral "Launch Complex 40" renamed to "Space Launch Complex 40"?
From Wikipedia: Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40), previously Launch Complex 40 (LC-40) It seems to me that all other Cape Canaveral launch complexes are just "LC" without the "Space&...
- 5,545
