Questions tagged [launch-site]
Questions on launch complexes, spaceports or other locales for the launch of spacecraft.
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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. ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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What is the current turnaround time for Vandenberg SLC-4E?
Is there public knowledge for the turnaround time for this Falcon 9 B5 pad?
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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 ...
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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&...
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Why not first stage rocket recovery at launching site after one orbit?
Rockets first stage recovery at launch site needs a significant amount of fuel for going back. This is why SpaceX most often uses sea platform and booster back burn for re-entry. As we see on Falcon9 ...
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What 1960s era launch pad and vehicle is shown in this still from stock footage?
The interesting question Identify this 1960's launch site and mission? contains some screenshots of launch pad stock footage. Most are of LC39, but as @Puffin points out in a comment, one does ...
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Selection of rocket launch sites [duplicate]
Viewed from above the North pole, earth's rotation is seen to be "anti-clockwise". Given this fact, any rockets launched from the eastern coast of U.S. have more chances of falling back onto ...
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Maximum Acceleration for NASA's Transport Crawler while carrying Saturn V
I was reading about the transport crawler and one detail that seems to be not covered in any of the lay-person's easily accessible literature is the recommended acceleration for the transport while ...