PmWiki.EquatorialAlpineRegions History
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http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/21/Cayambe_volcano_from_Quito.jpg/500px-Cayambe_volcano_from_Quito.jpg | Cayambe (a stratovolcano), seen from Quito, Ecuador
Equatorial alpine regions offer several potential advantages for economizing on space launch. They are in the ideal latitudes for projectile space launch to equatorial orbits. Many high mountains near the equator are dormant volcanoes or extinct volcanoes. This means they might be used as launch points with relatively low environmental impact. Labor rates are low, which matters for space launch operations since these activities can be expensive. The process of evaluating launch sites like these will also offer opportunities for Project Persephone to help develop the economies in these poor regions. Project Persephone will look at ways to develop tourism, telecommunications, exports and renewable energy resources.
Ease of Launch
Equatorial
http://www.spacedaily.com/images/brazil-vsl1-pad-bg.jpg | Sounding rocket - Alcântara
The equator offers a significant starting velocity for eastward orbits because of the rotation of the Earth: less energy is needed to achieve orbit. Admittedly, there are decreasing returns to lower latitudes: a point ten degrees north of the equator is rotating around the Earth's axis only slightly faster than a point on the equator itself. The ESA's Guiana Space Centre is about 5 degrees north of the equator. (The southernmost point in continental Europe is about 34 degrees north, which was not very economical for launching to GEO.) One company specializing mostly in GEO satellite launch, Sea Launch, steers an ocean-going launch platform to the equator.
If an additional goal is to avoid the cost and complexity of significant orbital plane changes to get to an equatorial orbit, launching from almost exactly on the equator is an advantage. These reasons help explain why Sea Launch shouldered the added logistical burdens of launching from sea -- if a satellite and its booster will need to sent by ship to the equator anyway, it might as well be launched at sea as well.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8a/X-Ray_Explorer_Satellite.jpg/120px-X-Ray_Explorer_Satellite.jpg | Uhuru satellite
Besides Guiana Space Centre, there are (and have been) some launch facilities in developing countries very close to the equator, facing eastward over oceans. A now-disused launch site in Kenya, the San Marco Launch Platform, hosted 9 satellite launches, including the Uhuru satellite and might return to service under a deal with the Russian space agency. West Papua's Biak Island has a planned spaceport, from which satellites of up to 3900 kg1 might be air-launched in cooperation between the Indonesian space agency (LAPAN) and the Russian Federation's space agency.2 Brazil's Alcântara Launch Center is a little over 2 degrees south, and has launched dozens of sounding rockets.
Another advantage of the equator, from the point of view of safety if a launch fails, is that population density is relatively low. Much of the area within a degree or two of the equator is ocean surface (Pacific, Atlantic, Indian), thinly populated rain forest basin (Amazon, Congo), or desert-like high mountain ranges. Yet another advantage is that equatorial regions have a lot of dormant and extinct volcanoes (see below for their potential value.)
Alpine
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8c/Twin_Linear_Aerospike_XRS-2200_Engine_PLW_edit.jpg/120px-Twin_Linear_Aerospike_XRS-2200_Engine_PLW_edit.jpg | Aerospike engine
Launching from higher altitudes means launching in a thinner part of the atmosphere. This matters. Lower-stage rocket engine designs are typically optimized for a range of atmospheric pressures. Automatically compensating nozzles have been designed, like the twin linear aerospike, but have not yet been used in production. In general, narrowing the range of operating air pressures makes a rocket engine design easier. Starting from a high altitude is one way to do this.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d5/Jupiter_C_Missile_Nose_Cone.jpg/120px-Jupiter_C_Missile_Nose_Cone.jpg | Ablative nose cone
More speculatively, for projectile space launch, high altitude offers two advantages:
(1) It reduces the heating of the projectile, so that ablative shielding doesn't consume as much of the vehicle's dry mass. Reentering space capsules can be as much as 20% ablative shield; a projectile transiting the atmosphere from sea level to vacuum might lose as much as 30% by weight.
(2) It reduces net air resistance on the way out of the atmosphere. This means less energy is required to reach orbital velocity, and (other things equal) it reduces the cost of the launcher. This factor is much more significant for projectile space launch than for rockets, because rockets can start slowly where the air is thicker and speed up as they rise into thinner air.
Reduced Labor Costs
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/be/VENDEDORA_AMBULANTE.JPG/120px-VENDEDORA_AMBULANTE.JPG | Street vendor, Ecuador
Wages in most alpine equatorial regions are low, because all are located in relatively poor nations. Furthermore, high mountain areas in poor countries tend to have a low cost of living compared to the cities of such nations. For labor-intensive civil engineering of a launch site, low labor rates are clearly ideal. To the extent that ensuing launch operations require only low-to-medium skill levels as opposed to complex engineering knowledge (as with rocket launch), operational costs might be significantly reduced. Perhaps the low cost of site preparation and launch for Project HARP (est. $3000 per launch, in 1960 dollars) was because local manual labor in Barbados was relatively cheap. Gerald Bull's supergun project in Iraq probably also benefited from lower wage rates in northern Iraq.
Lower Environmental Impact
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/83/Kelimutu_2008-08-08.jpg/120px-Kelimutu_2008-08-08.jpg | Kelimutu crater lake
A relatively large proportion of the higher peaks in equatorial regions are stratovolcanoes, most of which are extinct or dormant. Some of them are already "environmental disaster areas", hosting relatively little life, most of it transplated recently from elsewhere. There are usually no endangered species, so that proposals to launch from them are unlikely to face environmental political obstacles. Space launch from such terrain is unlikely to compromise any of the resource benefits of volcanoes (watershed, soil replenishment).
Opportunities for Economic Development
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/42/D%C3%ADa_do_traballo._Santiago_de_Compostela_2009_58.jpg/120px-D%C3%ADa_do_traballo._Santiago_de_Compostela_2009_58.jpg | Labor day in Ecuador Locating even a modest launch complex of any kind in alpine equatorial regions is likely to bring in jobs and tourists. Launch itself might improve a volcano's value as a "scenic resource" (providing more tourism income to locals): tourists coming to watch a launch would be witnessing the spectacle of an artifical "eruption" that poses none of the risks of natural ones.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/15/Mount_Kenya_guides.jpg/120px-Mount_Kenya_guides.jpg | Climbing Mt. Kenya
Short of hosting actual launch capability, the first steps of providing it might offer tourism opportunities. One is in developing scenic resources: a view from the top. Volcanoes are notorious among alpinists as very boring climbs. To most travelers a view of the mountain and the view from the top of it would be more to the point than the climb itself. As an interim step in developing launch infrastructure, a tram service might be provided, running through a tunnel bored to the peak, so that tourists could enjoy commanding views whenever the weather allowed.
Volcanoes might help provide local renewable energy. In advance of establishing a volcano's peak as a tourist destination, a much narrower "pilot tunnel", unfit for tourist passage, might be bored from crater to base (perhaps using large-bore oil-drilling equipment). This would allow hydroelectric power to be efficiently generated from snowmelt pools in craters. The tunnel might be steadily widened until it could host a tram. Having such a tunnel would make it easier to work on a new channel during tourism off-hours, one in which a projectile space launch tube might fit,
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7a/Inflatable_satellite_dish_in_Afghanistan.jpg/120px-Inflatable_satellite_dish_in_Afghanistan.jpg | Inflatable satellite dish
Even before development of launch infrastructure of any scale, alpine equatorial communities might be given preference in hiring "telebot" operators to do jobs in prototype exovivaria and virtual exovivaria, jobs that developed-world members of Project Persephone would rather pay to have done than do themselves. The first order of business would probably be to provide these base communities with global telecommunications channels, and an ability to earn income from them. Simply having such communications, close to scenic mountains, would greatly enhance the tourism potential of these locations -- after all, we live a world where travelers increasingly prefer to stay Internet-connected, even in flight.
http://www.drew.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/80/Building-a-School1-300x225.jpg | Building a classroom
A greater opening to the rest of the world, provided it brought enough benefits, would make communities more receptive to further development later on as launch areas, for as long as incomes, educations, access to medical care, and standard of living generally improved. To the extent that developing world income is repatriated by guest labor, communications links could help cheaply channel rudimentary language instruction and introduction to possible clients, in advance of taking up work in richer countries. The proximity to a high mountain peak might provide an excellent location for antennae for satellite broadband communications, as the preferred way to link up with communities that might not even have regular, reliable telephone service now. The needed satellite comm equipment is becoming ever more portable, making initial high-quality road access less of an issue than it might otherwise be, for communities in the more remote areas.
1 "Air Launch" airborne space-rocket complex, Academician V.P.Makeyev State Rocket Centre ⇑
2 Maulia, Erwida (Feb 15, 2012). "Russia repeats offer to RI to become a 'space nation'". The Jakarta Post (Jakarta, Indonesia). Retrieved 2012-02-18. ⇑
Further reading
- The Mountain Institute - "The Mountain Institute empowers communities in the world's great mountain systems through education, conservation and sustainable development"
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9f/US_Navy_110526-N-KK935-491_Builder_1st_Class_Chris_Louden%2C_assigned_to_Amphibious_Construction_Battalion_%28ACB%29_1%2C_high-fives_children_at_Ciangsana_.jpg/120px-US_Navy_110526-N-KK935-491_Builder_1st_Class_Chris_Louden%2C_assigned_to_Amphibious_Construction_Battalion_%28ACB%29_1%2C_high-fives_children_at_Ciangsana_.jpg | Building a classroom
A greater opening to the rest of the world, provided it brought enough benefits, would likely make communities more receptive to further development later on as launch areas, for as long as incomes, educations, access to medical care, and standard of living generally improved. To the extent that developing world income is repatriated by guest labor, communications links could help cheaply channel rudimentary language instruction and introduction to possible clients, in advance of taking up work in richer countries. The proximity to a high mountain peak might provide an excellent location for antennae for satellite broadband communications, as the preferred way to link up with communities that might not even have regular, reliable telephone service now. The needed satellite comm equipment is becoming ever more portable, making initial high-quality road access less of an issue than it might otherwise be, for communities in the more remote areas.
http://www.drew.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/80/Building-a-School1-300x225.jpg | Building a classroom
A greater opening to the rest of the world, provided it brought enough benefits, would make communities more receptive to further development later on as launch areas, for as long as incomes, educations, access to medical care, and standard of living generally improved. To the extent that developing world income is repatriated by guest labor, communications links could help cheaply channel rudimentary language instruction and introduction to possible clients, in advance of taking up work in richer countries. The proximity to a high mountain peak might provide an excellent location for antennae for satellite broadband communications, as the preferred way to link up with communities that might not even have regular, reliable telephone service now. The needed satellite comm equipment is becoming ever more portable, making initial high-quality road access less of an issue than it might otherwise be, for communities in the more remote areas.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/Alcantara_Base_2.PNG | Sounding rocket - Alc�ntara
http://www.spacedaily.com/images/brazil-vsl1-pad-bg.jpg | Sounding rocket - Alcântara
Besides Guiana Space Centre, there are (and have been) some launch facilities in developing countries very close to the equator, facing eastward over oceans. A now-disused launch site in Kenya, the San Marco Launch Platform, hosted 9 satellite launches, including the Uhuru satellite and might return to service under a deal with the Russian space agency. West Papua's Biak Island has a planned spaceport, from which satellites of up to 3900 kg1 might be air-launched in cooperation between the Indonesian space agency (LAPAN) and the Russian Federation's space agency.2 Brazil's Alc�ntara Launch Center is a little over 2 degrees south, and has launched dozens of sounding rockets.
Besides Guiana Space Centre, there are (and have been) some launch facilities in developing countries very close to the equator, facing eastward over oceans. A now-disused launch site in Kenya, the San Marco Launch Platform, hosted 9 satellite launches, including the Uhuru satellite and might return to service under a deal with the Russian space agency. West Papua's Biak Island has a planned spaceport, from which satellites of up to 3900 kg3 might be air-launched in cooperation between the Indonesian space agency (LAPAN) and the Russian Federation's space agency.4 Brazil's Alcântara Launch Center is a little over 2 degrees south, and has launched dozens of sounding rockets.
A relatively large proportion of the higher peaks in equatorial regions are stratovolcanoes, most of which are extinct or dormant. Some of them are already "environmental disaster areas", hosting little or no life, and no endangered species, so that proposals to launch from them are unlikely to face environmental political obstacles. Space launch from such terrain is unlikely to compromise any of the resource benefits of volcanoes (watershed, soil replenishment).
A relatively large proportion of the higher peaks in equatorial regions are stratovolcanoes, most of which are extinct or dormant. Some of them are already "environmental disaster areas", hosting relatively little life, most of it transplated recently from elsewhere. There are usually no endangered species, so that proposals to launch from them are unlikely to face environmental political obstacles. Space launch from such terrain is unlikely to compromise any of the resource benefits of volcanoes (watershed, soil replenishment).
- The Mountain Institute - "The Mountain Institute empowers communities in the world�s great mountain systems through education, conservation and sustainable development"
- The Mountain Institute - "The Mountain Institute empowers communities in the world's great mountain systems through education, conservation and sustainable development"
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/21/Cayambe_volcano_from_Quito.jpg/500px-Cayambe_volcano_from_Quito.jpg | Cayambe (a stratovolcano), seen from Quito, Ecuador
Equatorial alpine regions offer several potential advantages for economizing on space launch. They are in the ideal latitudes for projectile space launch to equatorial orbits. Many high mountains near the equator are dormant volcanoes or extinct volcanoes. This means they might be used as launch points with relatively low environmental impact. Labor rates are low, which matters for space launch operations since these activities can be expensive. The process of evaluating launch sites like these will also offer opportunities for Project Persephone to help develop the economies in these poor regions. Project Persephone will look at ways to develop tourism, telecommunications, exports and renewable energy resources.
Ease of Launch
Equatorial
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/Alcantara_Base_2.PNG | Sounding rocket - Alc�ntara
The equator offers a significant starting velocity for eastward orbits because of the rotation of the Earth: less energy is needed to achieve orbit. Admittedly, there are decreasing returns to lower latitudes: a point ten degrees north of the equator is rotating around the Earth's axis only slightly faster than a point on the equator itself. The ESA's Guiana Space Centre is about 5 degrees north of the equator. (The southernmost point in continental Europe is about 34 degrees north, which was not very economical for launching to GEO.) One company specializing mostly in GEO satellite launch, Sea Launch, steers an ocean-going launch platform to the equator.
If an additional goal is to avoid the cost and complexity of significant orbital plane changes to get to an equatorial orbit, launching from almost exactly on the equator is an advantage. These reasons help explain why Sea Launch shouldered the added logistical burdens of launching from sea -- if a satellite and its booster will need to sent by ship to the equator anyway, it might as well be launched at sea as well.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8a/X-Ray_Explorer_Satellite.jpg/120px-X-Ray_Explorer_Satellite.jpg | Uhuru satellite
Besides Guiana Space Centre, there are (and have been) some launch facilities in developing countries very close to the equator, facing eastward over oceans. A now-disused launch site in Kenya, the San Marco Launch Platform, hosted 9 satellite launches, including the Uhuru satellite and might return to service under a deal with the Russian space agency. West Papua's Biak Island has a planned spaceport, from which satellites of up to 3900 kg5 might be air-launched in cooperation between the Indonesian space agency (LAPAN) and the Russian Federation's space agency.6 Brazil's Alc�ntara Launch Center is a little over 2 degrees south, and has launched dozens of sounding rockets.
Another advantage of the equator, from the point of view of safety if a launch fails, is that population density is relatively low. Much of the area within a degree or two of the equator is ocean surface (Pacific, Atlantic, Indian), thinly populated rain forest basin (Amazon, Congo), or desert-like high mountain ranges. Yet another advantage is that equatorial regions have a lot of dormant and extinct volcanoes (see below for their potential value.)
Alpine
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8c/Twin_Linear_Aerospike_XRS-2200_Engine_PLW_edit.jpg/120px-Twin_Linear_Aerospike_XRS-2200_Engine_PLW_edit.jpg | Aerospike engine
Launching from higher altitudes means launching in a thinner part of the atmosphere. This matters. Lower-stage rocket engine designs are typically optimized for a range of atmospheric pressures. Automatically compensating nozzles have been designed, like the twin linear aerospike, but have not yet been used in production. In general, narrowing the range of operating air pressures makes a rocket engine design easier. Starting from a high altitude is one way to do this.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d5/Jupiter_C_Missile_Nose_Cone.jpg/120px-Jupiter_C_Missile_Nose_Cone.jpg | Ablative nose cone
More speculatively, for projectile space launch, high altitude offers two advantages:
(1) It reduces the heating of the projectile, so that ablative shielding doesn't consume as much of the vehicle's dry mass. Reentering space capsules can be as much as 20% ablative shield; a projectile transiting the atmosphere from sea level to vacuum might lose as much as 30% by weight.
(2) It reduces net air resistance on the way out of the atmosphere. This means less energy is required to reach orbital velocity, and (other things equal) it reduces the cost of the launcher. This factor is much more significant for projectile space launch than for rockets, because rockets can start slowly where the air is thicker and speed up as they rise into thinner air.
Reduced Labor Costs
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/be/VENDEDORA_AMBULANTE.JPG/120px-VENDEDORA_AMBULANTE.JPG | Street vendor, Ecuador
Wages in most alpine equatorial regions are low, because all are located in relatively poor nations. Furthermore, high mountain areas in poor countries tend to have a low cost of living compared to the cities of such nations. For labor-intensive civil engineering of a launch site, low labor rates are clearly ideal. To the extent that ensuing launch operations require only low-to-medium skill levels as opposed to complex engineering knowledge (as with rocket launch), operational costs might be significantly reduced. Perhaps the low cost of site preparation and launch for Project HARP (est. $3000 per launch, in 1960 dollars) was because local manual labor in Barbados was relatively cheap. Gerald Bull's supergun project in Iraq probably also benefited from lower wage rates in northern Iraq.
Lower Environmental Impact
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/83/Kelimutu_2008-08-08.jpg/120px-Kelimutu_2008-08-08.jpg | Kelimutu crater lake
A relatively large proportion of the higher peaks in equatorial regions are stratovolcanoes, most of which are extinct or dormant. Some of them are already "environmental disaster areas", hosting little or no life, and no endangered species, so that proposals to launch from them are unlikely to face environmental political obstacles. Space launch from such terrain is unlikely to compromise any of the resource benefits of volcanoes (watershed, soil replenishment).
Opportunities for Economic Development
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/42/D%C3%ADa_do_traballo._Santiago_de_Compostela_2009_58.jpg/120px-D%C3%ADa_do_traballo._Santiago_de_Compostela_2009_58.jpg | Labor day in Ecuador Locating even a modest launch complex of any kind in alpine equatorial regions is likely to bring in jobs and tourists. Launch itself might improve a volcano's value as a "scenic resource" (providing more tourism income to locals): tourists coming to watch a launch would be witnessing the spectacle of an artifical "eruption" that poses none of the risks of natural ones.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/15/Mount_Kenya_guides.jpg/120px-Mount_Kenya_guides.jpg | Climbing Mt. Kenya
Short of hosting actual launch capability, the first steps of providing it might offer tourism opportunities. One is in developing scenic resources: a view from the top. Volcanoes are notorious among alpinists as very boring climbs. To most travelers a view of the mountain and the view from the top of it would be more to the point than the climb itself. As an interim step in developing launch infrastructure, a tram service might be provided, running through a tunnel bored to the peak, so that tourists could enjoy commanding views whenever the weather allowed.
Volcanoes might help provide local renewable energy. In advance of establishing a volcano's peak as a tourist destination, a much narrower "pilot tunnel", unfit for tourist passage, might be bored from crater to base (perhaps using large-bore oil-drilling equipment). This would allow hydroelectric power to be efficiently generated from snowmelt pools in craters. The tunnel might be steadily widened until it could host a tram. Having such a tunnel would make it easier to work on a new channel during tourism off-hours, one in which a projectile space launch tube might fit,
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7a/Inflatable_satellite_dish_in_Afghanistan.jpg/120px-Inflatable_satellite_dish_in_Afghanistan.jpg | Inflatable satellite dish
Even before development of launch infrastructure of any scale, alpine equatorial communities might be given preference in hiring "telebot" operators to do jobs in prototype exovivaria and virtual exovivaria, jobs that developed-world members of Project Persephone would rather pay to have done than do themselves. The first order of business would probably be to provide these base communities with global telecommunications channels, and an ability to earn income from them. Simply having such communications, close to scenic mountains, would greatly enhance the tourism potential of these locations -- after all, we live a world where travelers increasingly prefer to stay Internet-connected, even in flight.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9f/US_Navy_110526-N-KK935-491_Builder_1st_Class_Chris_Louden%2C_assigned_to_Amphibious_Construction_Battalion_%28ACB%29_1%2C_high-fives_children_at_Ciangsana_.jpg/120px-US_Navy_110526-N-KK935-491_Builder_1st_Class_Chris_Louden%2C_assigned_to_Amphibious_Construction_Battalion_%28ACB%29_1%2C_high-fives_children_at_Ciangsana_.jpg | Building a classroom
A greater opening to the rest of the world, provided it brought enough benefits, would likely make communities more receptive to further development later on as launch areas, for as long as incomes, educations, access to medical care, and standard of living generally improved. To the extent that developing world income is repatriated by guest labor, communications links could help cheaply channel rudimentary language instruction and introduction to possible clients, in advance of taking up work in richer countries. The proximity to a high mountain peak might provide an excellent location for antennae for satellite broadband communications, as the preferred way to link up with communities that might not even have regular, reliable telephone service now. The needed satellite comm equipment is becoming ever more portable, making initial high-quality road access less of an issue than it might otherwise be, for communities in the more remote areas.
1 "Air Launch" airborne space-rocket complex, Academician V.P.Makeyev State Rocket Centre ⇑
2 Maulia, Erwida (Feb 15, 2012). "Russia repeats offer to RI to become a 'space nation'". The Jakarta Post (Jakarta, Indonesia). Retrieved 2012-02-18. ⇑
3 "Air Launch" airborne space-rocket complex, Academician V.P.Makeyev State Rocket Centre ⇑
4 Maulia, Erwida (Feb 15, 2012). "Russia repeats offer to RI to become a 'space nation'". The Jakarta Post (Jakarta, Indonesia). Retrieved 2012-02-18. ⇑
5 "Air Launch" airborne space-rocket complex, Academician V.P.Makeyev State Rocket Centre ⇑
6 Maulia, Erwida (Feb 15, 2012). "Russia repeats offer to RI to become a 'space nation'". The Jakarta Post (Jakarta, Indonesia). Retrieved 2012-02-18. ⇑
Further reading
- The Mountain Institute - "The Mountain Institute empowers communities in the world�s great mountain systems through education, conservation and sustainable development"
Have you ever ever considered idinunclg more videos to your weblog posts to maintain the readers more entertained? I mean I just read by means of the entire article of yours and it was quite good but since I am extra of a visual learner,I discovered that to be extra helpful nicely let me know how it seems! I really like what you guys are at all times up too. Such clever work and reporting! Sustain the nice works guys I've added you guys to my blogroll. This can be a great article thanks for sharing this informative information.. I'll visit your blog repeatedly for some newest publish
Yeah, I'm suprised it took so long for them to do a lacnuh. Then again, they thought they were going to turn shuttles around every couple weeks. LOL!I dont care what you say, LOX + anything = explosive death. You say they dont have massive quantities of fuel on the platform? The platform ITSELF becomes fuel with LOX around.Its at least as dangerous, if not more dangerous than an oil rig. At least in an oil fire there are a couple minutes to escape before the entire rig melts down. With this, you'd be blown to bits, and even if you werent, the heat of the fire would create instant flashover on anything flammable.Have you ever seen the webpage of the guy who lights a bar-b-que with liquid oxygen? :)Ever seen footage of a rocket exploding on the pad? That makes an oil fire look like childs play.But its a moot point. It has been pointed out here that the whole point of this thing is to remove all people from the platform, and if it does blow up, at least everything that blew up was cheap.BTW, Thanks for the info on how they load the rockets, I didnt know that.
Have you ever ever considered idinunclg more videos to your weblog posts to maintain the readers more entertained? I mean I just read by means of the entire article of yours and it was quite good but since I am extra of a visual learner,I discovered that to be extra helpful nicely let me know how it seems! I really like what you guys are at all times up too. Such clever work and reporting! Sustain the nice works guys I've added you guys to my blogroll. This can be a great article thanks for sharing this informative information.. I'll visit your blog repeatedly for some newest publish
Large ships use active stiinazblg wings. Some ships use weights but that can only reduce motion - the wings can take off 90% or so of motion, but you have to be underway for them to work.The semi-submerged platform they used is naturally stable since it is 'floated' on the submerged pontoons which aren't effected by the surface wave action. It can sit in one place and provide an extremely stable launch environment.And it wouldn't be like launching from a titled pad - consider momentum. The rocket is a long lever arm - if it is swaying it has to withstand that force and if it launches while swinging it will suddenly be free of the mass of the platform and that can be a lot of force to compensate for when the rocket hasn't built its own forward intertia.You could certainly do it - the military does it with missiles all the time. Warships don't wait to stablize. But that's one reason missiles tend to accelerate MUCH harder than a launcher like this - they immediately stablize under trust as the massive boost overcomes any imparted inertia. Launchers are designed to be comparatively very gentle because of the delicate, expensive things they loft. And missiles are MUCH smaller. Note that to launch an SLBM a missle sub *does* stablize before launch.The force of a Zenit launch wouldn't sink the ship - equal and opposite, the pressure of the exhaust pushing against the ship is only going to be about the weight of the rocket it was just carrying.
Yeah, I'm suprised it took so long for them to do a lacnuh. Then again, they thought they were going to turn shuttles around every couple weeks. LOL!I dont care what you say, LOX + anything = explosive death. You say they dont have massive quantities of fuel on the platform? The platform ITSELF becomes fuel with LOX around.Its at least as dangerous, if not more dangerous than an oil rig. At least in an oil fire there are a couple minutes to escape before the entire rig melts down. With this, you'd be blown to bits, and even if you werent, the heat of the fire would create instant flashover on anything flammable.Have you ever seen the webpage of the guy who lights a bar-b-que with liquid oxygen? :)Ever seen footage of a rocket exploding on the pad? That makes an oil fire look like childs play.But its a moot point. It has been pointed out here that the whole point of this thing is to remove all people from the platform, and if it does blow up, at least everything that blew up was cheap.BTW, Thanks for the info on how they load the rockets, I didnt know that.
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Large ships use active stiinazblg wings. Some ships use weights but that can only reduce motion - the wings can take off 90% or so of motion, but you have to be underway for them to work.The semi-submerged platform they used is naturally stable since it is 'floated' on the submerged pontoons which aren't effected by the surface wave action. It can sit in one place and provide an extremely stable launch environment.And it wouldn't be like launching from a titled pad - consider momentum. The rocket is a long lever arm - if it is swaying it has to withstand that force and if it launches while swinging it will suddenly be free of the mass of the platform and that can be a lot of force to compensate for when the rocket hasn't built its own forward intertia.You could certainly do it - the military does it with missiles all the time. Warships don't wait to stablize. But that's one reason missiles tend to accelerate MUCH harder than a launcher like this - they immediately stablize under trust as the massive boost overcomes any imparted inertia. Launchers are designed to be comparatively very gentle because of the delicate, expensive things they loft. And missiles are MUCH smaller. Note that to launch an SLBM a missle sub *does* stablize before launch.The force of a Zenit launch wouldn't sink the ship - equal and opposite, the pressure of the exhaust pushing against the ship is only going to be about the weight of the rocket it was just carrying.
the coatimundi was one of Kristina's fauiorvte animals in a book we had, filled with drawings of animals in their habitat the loved the different forms of camouflage, and was always quite the nature-loving kid even for kinds of nature she was not going to find close to homeyou and E look super-sister-cute
This blog is definitely rheatr handy since I’m at the moment creating an internet floral website – although I am only starting out therefore it’s really fairly small, nothing like this site. Can link to a few of the posts here as they are quite. Thanks much. Zoey Olsen
the coatimundi was one of Kristina's fauiorvte animals in a book we had, filled with drawings of animals in their habitat the loved the different forms of camouflage, and was always quite the nature-loving kid even for kinds of nature she was not going to find close to homeyou and E look super-sister-cute
Hey everybody! The May 5th 2012 full moon is a Super Moon! In case you don't know the Super moon is a moon that is full at the point in its orbit at which it is cleosst to the earth AKA perigee-syzygy.The Perigee of course is the term for being cleosst to the earth and the syzygy is the term for the alignment of the Sun, the Earth and The Moon (in that order) creating the full moon!The moon appears about 16% larger but its relative as you don't have anything to gauge it against.Just a fun FYI!Mark
This blog is definitely rheatr handy since I’m at the moment creating an internet floral website – although I am only starting out therefore it’s really fairly small, nothing like this site. Can link to a few of the posts here as they are quite. Thanks much. Zoey Olsen
Ships wobble. Platforms don't. It's chaeper (because they've looked at both ways) to have an extra platform than it is to have a ship with the extra kit to anchor itself firmly in place.They don't stay on board the launch platform. AIUI, this is one of the big cost-savings compared to setting up land-based launchpads - no need to build for safety, just make it disposable and don't be anywhere near it just in case. They're not launching Thors here, modern launchers (even Ariane) are pretty reliable for getting clear of the pad, even if they fail later. So, you're not comparing "pad + ship" vs. "ship", you're comparing "pad + ship" vs. "two ships".Platforms are cheap. The S/H market is big for these things. Cost of buying "the platform" is soon overshadowed by things like the tech kit, the cost of moving it around, and of operating it.The Soviets didn't (AFAIK) ever have a "truck launched ICBM". IRBM (intermediate range, not intercontinental), but that's a lot smaller.Missiles haven't been satellite launchers for 40 years. Satellites got bigger, warheads got smaller. Even the Titan is an old (i.e. big) missile that can only launch what are now the smaller end of satellite sizes.This is a TV satellite - one of the hardest things to launch. They're big and heavy (although this one is pretty small) and they need a geosynchronous orbit. That's a high orbit, which means an extra stage / bigger launcher.
Hey everybody! The May 5th 2012 full moon is a Super Moon! In case you don't know the Super moon is a moon that is full at the point in its orbit at which it is cleosst to the earth AKA perigee-syzygy.The Perigee of course is the term for being cleosst to the earth and the syzygy is the term for the alignment of the Sun, the Earth and The Moon (in that order) creating the full moon!The moon appears about 16% larger but its relative as you don't have anything to gauge it against.Just a fun FYI!Mark
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/21/Cayambe_volcano_from_Quito.jpg/500px-Cayambe_volcano_from_Quito.jpg | Cayambe (a stratovolcano), seen from Quito, Ecuador
Equatorial alpine regions offer several potential advantages for economizing on space launch. They are in the ideal latitudes for projectile space launch to equatorial orbits. Many high mountains near the equator are dormant volcanoes or extinct volcanoes. This means they might be used as launch points with relatively low environmental impact. Labor rates are low, which matters for space launch operations since these activities can be expensive. The process of evaluating launch sites like these will also offer opportunities for Project Persephone to help develop the economies in these poor regions. Project Persephone will look at ways to develop tourism, telecommunications, exports and renewable energy resources.
Ease of Launch
Equatorial
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/Alcantara_Base_2.PNG | Sounding rocket - Alcântara
The equator offers a significant starting velocity for eastward orbits because of the rotation of the Earth: less energy is needed to achieve orbit. Admittedly, there are decreasing returns to lower latitudes: a point ten degrees north of the equator is rotating around the Earth's axis only slightly faster than a point on the equator itself. The ESA's Guiana Space Centre is about 5 degrees north of the equator. (The southernmost point in continental Europe is about 34 degrees north, which was not very economical for launching to GEO.) One company specializing mostly in GEO satellite launch, Sea Launch, steers an ocean-going launch platform to the equator.
If an additional goal is to avoid the cost and complexity of significant orbital plane changes to get to an equatorial orbit, launching from almost exactly on the equator is an advantage. These reasons help explain why Sea Launch shouldered the added logistical burdens of launching from sea -- if a satellite and its booster will need to sent by ship to the equator anyway, it might as well be launched at sea as well.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8a/X-Ray_Explorer_Satellite.jpg/120px-X-Ray_Explorer_Satellite.jpg | Uhuru satellite
Besides Guiana Space Centre, there are (and have been) some launch facilities in developing countries very close to the equator, facing eastward over oceans. A now-disused launch site in Kenya, the San Marco Launch Platform, hosted 9 satellite launches, including the Uhuru satellite and might return to service under a deal with the Russian space agency. West Papua's Biak Island has a planned spaceport, from which satellites of up to 3900 kg1 might be air-launched in cooperation between the Indonesian space agency (LAPAN) and the Russian Federation's space agency.2 Brazil's Alcântara Launch Center is a little over 2 degrees south, and has launched dozens of sounding rockets.
Another advantage of the equator, from the point of view of safety if a launch fails, is that population density is relatively low. Much of the area within a degree or two of the equator is ocean surface (Pacific, Atlantic, Indian), thinly populated rain forest basin (Amazon, Congo), or desert-like high mountain ranges. Yet another advantage is that equatorial regions have a lot of dormant and extinct volcanoes (see below for their potential value.)
Alpine
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8c/Twin_Linear_Aerospike_XRS-2200_Engine_PLW_edit.jpg/120px-Twin_Linear_Aerospike_XRS-2200_Engine_PLW_edit.jpg | Aerospike engine
Launching from higher altitudes means launching in a thinner part of the atmosphere. This matters. Lower-stage rocket engine designs are typically optimized for a range of atmospheric pressures. Automatically compensating nozzles have been designed, like the twin linear aerospike, but have not yet been used in production. In general, narrowing the range of operating air pressures makes a rocket engine design easier. Starting from a high altitude is one way to do this.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d5/Jupiter_C_Missile_Nose_Cone.jpg/120px-Jupiter_C_Missile_Nose_Cone.jpg | Ablative nose cone
More speculatively, for projectile space launch, high altitude offers two advantages:
(1) It reduces the heating of the projectile, so that ablative shielding doesn't consume as much of the vehicle's dry mass. Reentering space capsules can be as much as 20% ablative shield; a projectile transiting the atmosphere from sea level to vacuum might lose as much as 30% by weight.
(2) It reduces net air resistance on the way out of the atmosphere. This means less energy is required to reach orbital velocity, and (other things equal) it reduces the cost of the launcher. This factor is much more significant for projectile space launch than for rockets, because rockets can start slowly where the air is thicker and speed up as they rise into thinner air.
Reduced Labor Costs
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/be/VENDEDORA_AMBULANTE.JPG/120px-VENDEDORA_AMBULANTE.JPG | Street vendor, Ecuador
Wages in most alpine equatorial regions are low, because all are located in relatively poor nations. Furthermore, high mountain areas in poor countries tend to have a low cost of living compared to the cities of such nations. For labor-intensive civil engineering of a launch site, low labor rates are clearly ideal. To the extent that ensuing launch operations require only low-to-medium skill levels as opposed to complex engineering knowledge (as with rocket launch), operational costs might be significantly reduced. Perhaps the low cost of site preparation and launch for Project HARP (est. $3000 per launch, in 1960 dollars) was because local manual labor in Barbados was relatively cheap. Gerald Bull's supergun project in Iraq probably also benefited from lower wage rates in northern Iraq.
Lower Environmental Impact
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/83/Kelimutu_2008-08-08.jpg/120px-Kelimutu_2008-08-08.jpg | Kelimutu crater lake
A relatively large proportion of the higher peaks in equatorial regions are stratovolcanoes, most of which are extinct or dormant. Some of them are already "environmental disaster areas", hosting little or no life, and no endangered species, so that proposals to launch from them are unlikely to face environmental political obstacles. Space launch from such terrain is unlikely to compromise any of the resource benefits of volcanoes (watershed, soil replenishment).
Opportunities for Economic Development
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/42/D%C3%ADa_do_traballo._Santiago_de_Compostela_2009_58.jpg/120px-D%C3%ADa_do_traballo._Santiago_de_Compostela_2009_58.jpg | Labor day in Ecuador Locating even a modest launch complex of any kind in alpine equatorial regions is likely to bring in jobs and tourists. Launch itself might improve a volcano's value as a "scenic resource" (providing more tourism income to locals): tourists coming to watch a launch would be witnessing the spectacle of an artifical "eruption" that poses none of the risks of natural ones.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/15/Mount_Kenya_guides.jpg/120px-Mount_Kenya_guides.jpg | Climbing Mt. Kenya
Short of hosting actual launch capability, the first steps of providing it might offer tourism opportunities. One is in developing scenic resources: a view from the top. Volcanoes are notorious among alpinists as very boring climbs. To most travelers a view of the mountain and the view from the top of it would be more to the point than the climb itself. As an interim step in developing launch infrastructure, a tram service might be provided, running through a tunnel bored to the peak, so that tourists could enjoy commanding views whenever the weather allowed.
Volcanoes might help provide local renewable energy. In advance of establishing a volcano's peak as a tourist destination, a much narrower "pilot tunnel", unfit for tourist passage, might be bored from crater to base (perhaps using large-bore oil-drilling equipment). This would allow hydroelectric power to be efficiently generated from snowmelt pools in craters. The tunnel might be steadily widened until it could host a tram. Having such a tunnel would make it easier to work on a new channel during tourism off-hours, one in which a projectile space launch tube might fit,
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7a/Inflatable_satellite_dish_in_Afghanistan.jpg/120px-Inflatable_satellite_dish_in_Afghanistan.jpg | Inflatable satellite dish
Even before development of launch infrastructure of any scale, alpine equatorial communities might be given preference in hiring "telebot" operators to do jobs in prototype exovivaria and virtual exovivaria, jobs that developed-world members of Project Persephone would rather pay to have done than do themselves. The first order of business would probably be to provide these base communities with global telecommunications channels, and an ability to earn income from them. Simply having such communications, close to scenic mountains, would greatly enhance the tourism potential of these locations -- after all, we live a world where travelers increasingly prefer to stay Internet-connected, even in flight.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9f/US_Navy_110526-N-KK935-491_Builder_1st_Class_Chris_Louden%2C_assigned_to_Amphibious_Construction_Battalion_%28ACB%29_1%2C_high-fives_children_at_Ciangsana_.jpg/120px-US_Navy_110526-N-KK935-491_Builder_1st_Class_Chris_Louden%2C_assigned_to_Amphibious_Construction_Battalion_%28ACB%29_1%2C_high-fives_children_at_Ciangsana_.jpg | Building a classroom
A greater opening to the rest of the world, provided it brought enough benefits, would likely make communities more receptive to further development later on as launch areas, for as long as incomes, educations, access to medical care, and standard of living generally improved. To the extent that developing world income is repatriated by guest labor, communications links could help cheaply channel rudimentary language instruction and introduction to possible clients, in advance of taking up work in richer countries. The proximity to a high mountain peak might provide an excellent location for antennae for satellite broadband communications, as the preferred way to link up with communities that might not even have regular, reliable telephone service now. The needed satellite comm equipment is becoming ever more portable, making initial high-quality road access less of an issue than it might otherwise be, for communities in the more remote areas.
1 "Air Launch" airborne space-rocket complex, Academician V.P.Makeyev State Rocket Centre ⇑
2 Maulia, Erwida (Feb 15, 2012). "Russia repeats offer to RI to become a 'space nation'". The Jakarta Post (Jakarta, Indonesia). Retrieved 2012-02-18. ⇑
Further reading
- The Mountain Institute - "The Mountain Institute empowers communities in the world’s great mountain systems through education, conservation and sustainable development"
Ships wobble. Platforms don't. It's chaeper (because they've looked at both ways) to have an extra platform than it is to have a ship with the extra kit to anchor itself firmly in place.They don't stay on board the launch platform. AIUI, this is one of the big cost-savings compared to setting up land-based launchpads - no need to build for safety, just make it disposable and don't be anywhere near it just in case. They're not launching Thors here, modern launchers (even Ariane) are pretty reliable for getting clear of the pad, even if they fail later. So, you're not comparing "pad + ship" vs. "ship", you're comparing "pad + ship" vs. "two ships".Platforms are cheap. The S/H market is big for these things. Cost of buying "the platform" is soon overshadowed by things like the tech kit, the cost of moving it around, and of operating it.The Soviets didn't (AFAIK) ever have a "truck launched ICBM". IRBM (intermediate range, not intercontinental), but that's a lot smaller.Missiles haven't been satellite launchers for 40 years. Satellites got bigger, warheads got smaller. Even the Titan is an old (i.e. big) missile that can only launch what are now the smaller end of satellite sizes.This is a TV satellite - one of the hardest things to launch. They're big and heavy (although this one is pretty small) and they need a geosynchronous orbit. That's a high orbit, which means an extra stage / bigger launcher.
The equator offers a significant starting velocity for eastward orbits because of the rotation of the Earth -- less energy is needed to achieve orbit. Admittedly, there are decreasing returns to lower latitudes: a point ten degrees north of the equator is rotating around the Earth's axis only slightly faster than a point on the equator itself. The ESA's Guiana Space Centre is about 5 degrees north of the equator. The southernmost point in continental Europe is about 34 degrees north, not very economical for launching to GEO. One company specializing mostly in GEO satellite launch, Sea Launch, steers an ocean-going launch platform to the equator.
The equator offers a significant starting velocity for eastward orbits because of the rotation of the Earth: less energy is needed to achieve orbit. Admittedly, there are decreasing returns to lower latitudes: a point ten degrees north of the equator is rotating around the Earth's axis only slightly faster than a point on the equator itself. The ESA's Guiana Space Centre is about 5 degrees north of the equator. (The southernmost point in continental Europe is about 34 degrees north, which was not very economical for launching to GEO.) One company specializing mostly in GEO satellite launch, Sea Launch, steers an ocean-going launch platform to the equator.
Volcanoes might help provide local renewable energy. In advance of establishing a volcano's peak as a tourist destination, a much narrower "pilot tunnel", unfit for tourist passage, might be bored from crater to base (perhaps using large-bore oil-drilling equipment). This wouild allow hydroelectric power to be efficiently generated from snowmelt pools in craters. This tunnel might be steadily widened until it could host a tram. Having such a tunnel would make it easier to work on a new channel during tourism off-hours, one in which a projectile space launch tube might fit,
Volcanoes might help provide local renewable energy. In advance of establishing a volcano's peak as a tourist destination, a much narrower "pilot tunnel", unfit for tourist passage, might be bored from crater to base (perhaps using large-bore oil-drilling equipment). This would allow hydroelectric power to be efficiently generated from snowmelt pools in craters. The tunnel might be steadily widened until it could host a tram. Having such a tunnel would make it easier to work on a new channel during tourism off-hours, one in which a projectile space launch tube might fit,
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/21/Cayambe_volcano_from_Quito.jpg/500px-Cayambe_volcano_from_Quito.jpg | Cayambe (a stratovolcano), seen from Quito, Ecuador
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/21/Cayambe_volcano_from_Quito.jpg/500px-Cayambe_volcano_from_Quito.jpg | Cayambe (a stratovolcano), seen from Quito, Ecuador
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/15/Mount_Kenya_guides.jpg/120px-Mount_Kenya_guides.jpg | Climbing Mt. Kenya?
Short of hosting actual launch capability, developing the first steps of providing it might allow tourism opportunities to be piggybacked. Although volcanos are notorious among alpinists for being very boring as climbs, to most travelers a view of the mountain and the view from the top of it are more to the point than the climb anyway. If, as an interim step in developing launch infrastructure, a tram service were provided, running through a tunnel bored to the peak, tourists could enjoy commanding views whenever the weather allowed. Even in advance of establishing the locality as a tourist destination, a much narrower "pilot tunnel", unfit for recreational human transit, might be bored from crater to base (perhaps using large-bore oil-drilling equipment) to allow hydroelectric power to be efficiently generated from snowmelt pools in craters and lakes in calderas. This tunnel might be steadily widened until it could host a tram. This would make it easier to work on a channel in which a launch tube might fit, during tourism off-hours.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/15/Mount_Kenya_guides.jpg/120px-Mount_Kenya_guides.jpg | Climbing Mt. Kenya
Short of hosting actual launch capability, the first steps of providing it might offer tourism opportunities. One is in developing scenic resources: a view from the top. Volcanoes are notorious among alpinists as very boring climbs. To most travelers a view of the mountain and the view from the top of it would be more to the point than the climb itself. As an interim step in developing launch infrastructure, a tram service might be provided, running through a tunnel bored to the peak, so that tourists could enjoy commanding views whenever the weather allowed.
Volcanoes might help provide local renewable energy. In advance of establishing a volcano's peak as a tourist destination, a much narrower "pilot tunnel", unfit for tourist passage, might be bored from crater to base (perhaps using large-bore oil-drilling equipment). This wouild allow hydroelectric power to be efficiently generated from snowmelt pools in craters. This tunnel might be steadily widened until it could host a tram. Having such a tunnel would make it easier to work on a new channel during tourism off-hours, one in which a projectile space launch tube might fit,
Even before development of launch infrastructure of any scale, alpine equatorial communities might be singled out for providing "telebot" operators to do jobs in prototype exovivaria that developed-world members of Project Persephone would rather pay to have done than do themselves. The first order of business would probably be to provide these base communities with global telecommunications channels, and an ability to earn income from them. Simply having such communications, in proximity to scenic mountains, would greatly enhance the tourism potential of these locations, in a world where travelers increasingly prefer to stay Internet-connected.
Even before development of launch infrastructure of any scale, alpine equatorial communities might be given preference in hiring "telebot" operators to do jobs in prototype exovivaria and virtual exovivaria, jobs that developed-world members of Project Persephone would rather pay to have done than do themselves. The first order of business would probably be to provide these base communities with global telecommunications channels, and an ability to earn income from them. Simply having such communications, close to scenic mountains, would greatly enhance the tourism potential of these locations -- after all, we live a world where travelers increasingly prefer to stay Internet-connected, even in flight.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/42/D%C3%ADa_do_traballo._Santiago_de_Compostela_2009_58.jpg/120px-D%C3%ADa_do_traballo._Santiago_de_Compostela_2009_58.jpg | Labor day in Ecuador?
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/42/D%C3%ADa_do_traballo._Santiago_de_Compostela_2009_58.jpg/120px-D%C3%ADa_do_traballo._Santiago_de_Compostela_2009_58.jpg | Labor day in Ecuador
Wages in most alpine equatorial regions are low, because all are located in relatively poor nations. Furthermore, high mountain areas in poor countries tend to have a low cost of living compared to the cities of such nations. For labor-intensive civil engineering of a launch site, low labor rates are clearly ideal. To the extent that ensuing launch operations require only low-to-medium skill levels as opposed to complex engineering knowledge (as with rocket launch), operational costs might be significantly reduced. Perhaps the low cost of site preparation and launch for Project HARP (est. $3000 per launch, in 1960 dollars) was because local manual labor in Barbados was relatively cheap. Gerald Bull?'s supergun? project in Iraq probably also benefited from lower wage rates in northern Iraq.
Wages in most alpine equatorial regions are low, because all are located in relatively poor nations. Furthermore, high mountain areas in poor countries tend to have a low cost of living compared to the cities of such nations. For labor-intensive civil engineering of a launch site, low labor rates are clearly ideal. To the extent that ensuing launch operations require only low-to-medium skill levels as opposed to complex engineering knowledge (as with rocket launch), operational costs might be significantly reduced. Perhaps the low cost of site preparation and launch for Project HARP (est. $3000 per launch, in 1960 dollars) was because local manual labor in Barbados was relatively cheap. Gerald Bull's supergun project in Iraq probably also benefited from lower wage rates in northern Iraq.
The equator offers a significant starting velocity for eastward orbits because of the rotation of the Earth -- less energy is needed to achieve orbit. Admittedly, there are decreasing returns to lower latitudes: a point ten degrees north of the equator is rotating around the Earth's axis only slightly faster than a point on the equator itself. The ESA?'s Guiana Space Centre is about 5 degrees north of the equator. The southernmost point in continental Europe is about 34 degrees north, not very economical for launching to GEO?. One company specializing mostly in GEO satellite launch, Sea Launch, steers an ocean-going launch platform to the equator.
If an additional goal is to avoid the cost and complexity of significant orbital plane changes? to get to an equatorial orbit, launching from almost exactly on the equator is an advantage. These reasons help explain why Sea Launch shouldered the added logistical burdens of launching from sea -- if a satellite and its booster will need to sent by ship to the equator anyway, it might as well be launched at sea as well.
The equator offers a significant starting velocity for eastward orbits because of the rotation of the Earth -- less energy is needed to achieve orbit. Admittedly, there are decreasing returns to lower latitudes: a point ten degrees north of the equator is rotating around the Earth's axis only slightly faster than a point on the equator itself. The ESA's Guiana Space Centre is about 5 degrees north of the equator. The southernmost point in continental Europe is about 34 degrees north, not very economical for launching to GEO. One company specializing mostly in GEO satellite launch, Sea Launch, steers an ocean-going launch platform to the equator.
If an additional goal is to avoid the cost and complexity of significant orbital plane changes to get to an equatorial orbit, launching from almost exactly on the equator is an advantage. These reasons help explain why Sea Launch shouldered the added logistical burdens of launching from sea -- if a satellite and its booster will need to sent by ship to the equator anyway, it might as well be launched at sea as well.
Besides Guiana Space Centre, there are (and have been) some launch facilities in developing countries very close to the equator, facing eastward over oceans. A now-disused launch site in Kenya?, the San Marco Launch Platform, hosted 9 satellite launches, including the Uhuru satellite and might return to service under a deal with the Russian space agency. West Papua's Biak Island has a planned spaceport, from which satellites of up to 3900 kg1 might be air-launched in cooperation between the Indonesian space agency (LAPAN) and the Russian Federation's space agency.2 Brazil's Alcântara Launch Center is a little over 2 degrees south, and has launched dozens of sounding rockets.
Besides Guiana Space Centre, there are (and have been) some launch facilities in developing countries very close to the equator, facing eastward over oceans. A now-disused launch site in Kenya, the San Marco Launch Platform, hosted 9 satellite launches, including the Uhuru satellite and might return to service under a deal with the Russian space agency. West Papua's Biak Island has a planned spaceport, from which satellites of up to 3900 kg3 might be air-launched in cooperation between the Indonesian space agency (LAPAN) and the Russian Federation's space agency.4 Brazil's Alcântara Launch Center is a little over 2 degrees south, and has launched dozens of sounding rockets.
(1) It reduces the heating of the projectile, so that ablative shielding? doesn't consume as much of the vehicle's dry mass?. Reentering space capsules can be as much as 20% ablative shield; a projectile transiting the atmosphere from sea level to vacuum might lose as much as 30% by weight.
(1) It reduces the heating of the projectile, so that ablative shielding doesn't consume as much of the vehicle's dry mass. Reentering space capsules can be as much as 20% ablative shield; a projectile transiting the atmosphere from sea level to vacuum might lose as much as 30% by weight.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/be/VENDEDORA_AMBULANTE.JPG/120px-VENDEDORA_AMBULANTE.JPG | Street vendor, Ecuador?
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/be/VENDEDORA_AMBULANTE.JPG/120px-VENDEDORA_AMBULANTE.JPG | Street vendor, Ecuador
Equatorial alpine regions offer several potential advantages for economizing on space launch. They are in the ideal latitudes for projectile space launch to equatorial orbits. Many high mountains near the equator are dormant volcanoes or extinct volcanoes. This means they might be used as launch points with relatively low environmental impact. Even the process of evaluating launch sites like these will also offer opportunities for Project Persephone to help develop the economies in these poor regions. Project Persephone will look at ways to develop tourism, telecommunications, exports and renewable energy resources.
Equatorial alpine regions offer several potential advantages for economizing on space launch. They are in the ideal latitudes for projectile space launch to equatorial orbits. Many high mountains near the equator are dormant volcanoes or extinct volcanoes. This means they might be used as launch points with relatively low environmental impact. Labor rates are low, which matters for space launch operations since these activities can be expensive. The process of evaluating launch sites like these will also offer opportunities for Project Persephone to help develop the economies in these poor regions. Project Persephone will look at ways to develop tourism, telecommunications, exports and renewable energy resources.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/21/Cayambe_volcano_from_Quito.jpg/500px-Cayambe_volcano_from_Quito.jpg | Cayambe (a stratovolcano?), seen from Quito, Ecuador
Equatorial alpine regions offer several advantages for economizing on space launch, both in ease of launching and in reducing labor costs. Many high mountains near the equator are dormant or extinct volcanoes, suggesting that they can be used as launch points with relatively low environmental impact. Launch from such points will also offer opportunities for Project Persephone to help people in these poor regions, in part through development of tourism, telecommunications, and renewable energy resources.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/21/Cayambe_volcano_from_Quito.jpg/500px-Cayambe_volcano_from_Quito.jpg | Cayambe (a stratovolcano), seen from Quito, Ecuador
Equatorial alpine regions offer several potential advantages for economizing on space launch. They are in the ideal latitudes for projectile space launch to equatorial orbits. Many high mountains near the equator are dormant volcanoes or extinct volcanoes. This means they might be used as launch points with relatively low environmental impact. Even the process of evaluating launch sites like these will also offer opportunities for Project Persephone to help develop the economies in these poor regions. Project Persephone will look at ways to develop tourism, telecommunications, exports and renewable energy resources.
1 "Air Launch" airborne space-rocket complex, Academician V.P.Makeyev State Rocket Centre ⇑
2 Maulia, Erwida (Feb 15, 2012). "Russia repeats offer to RI to become a 'space nation'". The Jakarta Post (Jakarta, Indonesia). Retrieved 2012-02-18. ⇑
3 "Air Launch" airborne space-rocket complex, Academician V.P.Makeyev State Rocket Centre ⇑
4 Maulia, Erwida (Feb 15, 2012). "Russia repeats offer to RI to become a 'space nation'". The Jakarta Post (Jakarta, Indonesia). Retrieved 2012-02-18. ⇑
Further reading
- The Mountain Institute - "The Mountain Institute empowers communities in the world’s great mountain systems through education, conservation and sustainable development"
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/42/D%C3%ADa_do_traballo._Santiago_de_Compostela_2009_58.jpg/120px-D%C3%ADa_do_traballo._Santiago_de_Compostela_2009_58.jpg | labor day in Ecuador?
Besides Guiana Space Centre, there are (and have been) some launch facilities in developing countries very close to the equator, facing eastward over oceans. A now-disused launch site in Kenya?, the San Marco Launch Platform, hosted 9 satellite launches, including the Uhuru satellite and might return to service under a deal with the Russian space agency. West Papua's Biak Island has a planned spaceport, from which satellites of up to 3900 kg1 might be air-launched in cooperation between the Indonesian space agency (LAPAN) and the Russian Federation's space agency. Brazil's Alcântara Launch Center is a little over 2 degrees south, and has launched dozens of sounding rockets.
Besides Guiana Space Centre, there are (and have been) some launch facilities in developing countries very close to the equator, facing eastward over oceans. A now-disused launch site in Kenya?, the San Marco Launch Platform, hosted 9 satellite launches, including the Uhuru satellite and might return to service under a deal with the Russian space agency. West Papua's Biak Island has a planned spaceport, from which satellites of up to 3900 kg2 might be air-launched in cooperation between the Indonesian space agency (LAPAN) and the Russian Federation's space agency.3 Brazil's Alcântara Launch Center is a little over 2 degrees south, and has launched dozens of sounding rockets.
1 http://www.makeyev.ru/rocspace/nwcoscmp/ ⇑
2 "Air Launch" airborne space-rocket complex, Academician V.P.Makeyev State Rocket Centre ⇑
3 Maulia, Erwida (Feb 15, 2012). "Russia repeats offer to RI to become a 'space nation'". The Jakarta Post (Jakarta, Indonesia). Retrieved 2012-02-18. ⇑
A greater opening to the rest of the world, provided it brought enough benefits, would likely make communities more receptive to further development later on as launch areas, for as long as incomes, educations, access to medical care, and standard of living generally improved. To the extent that developing world income is repatriated, communications links could help cheaply channel rudimentary language instruction and introduction to possible clients, in advance of taking up guest labor work in developing countries. The proximity to a high mountain peak might provide an excellent location for antennae for satellite broadband communications, as the preferred way to link up with communities that might not even have regular, reliable telephone service. The needed satellite comm equipment is becoming ever more portable, making initial high-quality road access less of an issue than it might otherwise be.
A greater opening to the rest of the world, provided it brought enough benefits, would likely make communities more receptive to further development later on as launch areas, for as long as incomes, educations, access to medical care, and standard of living generally improved. To the extent that developing world income is repatriated by guest labor, communications links could help cheaply channel rudimentary language instruction and introduction to possible clients, in advance of taking up work in richer countries. The proximity to a high mountain peak might provide an excellent location for antennae for satellite broadband communications, as the preferred way to link up with communities that might not even have regular, reliable telephone service now. The needed satellite comm equipment is becoming ever more portable, making initial high-quality road access less of an issue than it might otherwise be, for communities in the more remote areas.
Equatorial alpine regions offer several advantages for economizing on space launch, both in ease of launching and in reducing labor costs. Many high mountains near the equator are dormant or extinct volcanoes, suggesting that they can be used as launch points with relatively low environmental impact. Launch from such points will also offer opportunities for Project Persephone to help people in these poor regions, in part through development of renewable energy resources.
Equatorial alpine regions offer several advantages for economizing on space launch, both in ease of launching and in reducing labor costs. Many high mountains near the equator are dormant or extinct volcanoes, suggesting that they can be used as launch points with relatively low environmental impact. Launch from such points will also offer opportunities for Project Persephone to help people in these poor regions, in part through development of tourism, telecommunications, and renewable energy resources.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8c/Twin_Linear_Aerospike_XRS-2200_Engine_PLW_edit.jpg/120px-Twin_Linear_Aerospike_XRS-2200_Engine_PLW_edit.jpg | aerospike engine
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8c/Twin_Linear_Aerospike_XRS-2200_Engine_PLW_edit.jpg/120px-Twin_Linear_Aerospike_XRS-2200_Engine_PLW_edit.jpg | Aerospike engine
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d5/Jupiter_C_Missile_Nose_Cone.jpg/120px-Jupiter_C_Missile_Nose_Cone.jpg | ablative nose cone
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d5/Jupiter_C_Missile_Nose_Cone.jpg/120px-Jupiter_C_Missile_Nose_Cone.jpg | Ablative nose cone
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/Alcantara_Base_2.PNG | Sounding rocket - Alcântara
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/Alcantara_Base_2.PNG | Sounding rocket - Alcântara
Short of hosting actual launch capability, developing the first steps of providing it might allow tourism opportunities to be piggybacked. Although volcanos are notorious among alpinists for being very boring as climbs, to most travelers a view of the mountain and the view from the top of it are more to the point than the climb anyway. If, as an interim step in developing launch infrastructure, a tram service were provided, running through a tunnel bored to the peak, tourists could enjoy commanding views whenever the weather allowed. Even in advance of establishing the locality as a tourist destination, a much narrower "pilot tunnel", unfit for recreational human transit, might be bored from crater to base (perhaps using large-bore oil-drilling equipment) to allow hydroelectric power to be efficiently generated from snowmelt pools in craters and lakes in calderas. This tunnel might be steadily widened until it could host a tram.
Short of hosting actual launch capability, developing the first steps of providing it might allow tourism opportunities to be piggybacked. Although volcanos are notorious among alpinists for being very boring as climbs, to most travelers a view of the mountain and the view from the top of it are more to the point than the climb anyway. If, as an interim step in developing launch infrastructure, a tram service were provided, running through a tunnel bored to the peak, tourists could enjoy commanding views whenever the weather allowed. Even in advance of establishing the locality as a tourist destination, a much narrower "pilot tunnel", unfit for recreational human transit, might be bored from crater to base (perhaps using large-bore oil-drilling equipment) to allow hydroelectric power to be efficiently generated from snowmelt pools in craters and lakes in calderas. This tunnel might be steadily widened until it could host a tram. This would make it easier to work on a channel in which a launch tube might fit, during tourism off-hours.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/be/Ariane_5_launch_pad.jpg/120px-Ariane_5_launch_pad.jpg | Guiana Space Centre
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/Alcantara_Base_2.PNG | Sounding rocket - Alcântara
Besides Guiana Space Centre, there are (and have been) some launch facilities in developing countries very close to the equator, facing eastward over oceans. A now-disused launch site in Kenya?, the San Marco Launch Platform, hosted 9 satellite launches, including the Uhuru satellite and and might return to service under a deal with the Russian space agency. West Papua's Biak Island has a planned spaceport, from which satellites of up to 3900 kg1 might be air-launched in cooperation between the Indonesian space agency (LAPAN) and the Russian Federation's space agency. Brazil's Alcântara Launch Center is a little over 2 degrees south, and has launched dozens of sounding rockets.
Besides Guiana Space Centre, there are (and have been) some launch facilities in developing countries very close to the equator, facing eastward over oceans. A now-disused launch site in Kenya?, the San Marco Launch Platform, hosted 9 satellite launches, including the Uhuru satellite and might return to service under a deal with the Russian space agency. West Papua's Biak Island has a planned spaceport, from which satellites of up to 3900 kg2 might be air-launched in cooperation between the Indonesian space agency (LAPAN) and the Russian Federation's space agency. Brazil's Alcântara Launch Center is a little over 2 degrees south, and has launched dozens of sounding rockets.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9f/US_Navy_110526-N-KK935-491_Builder_1st_Class_Chris_Louden%2C_assigned_to_Amphibious_Construction_Battalion_%28ACB%29_1%2C_high-fives_children_at_Ciangsana_.jpg/120px-US_Navy_110526-N-KK935-491_Builder_1st_Class_Chris_Louden%2C_assigned_to_Amphibious_Construction_Battalion_%28ACB%29_1%2C_high-fives_children_at_Ciangsana_.jpg | Building a classroom
Even before development of launch infrastructure of any scale, alpine equatorial communities might be singled out for providing "telebot" operators to do jobs in prototype exovivaria that developed-world members of Project Persephone would rather pay to have done than do themselves. The first order of business would probably be to provide these base communities with global telecommunications channels, and an ability to earn income from them. Simply having such communications, in proximity to scenic mountains, would greatly enhance the tourism potential of these locations, in a world where travelers increasingly prefer to stay Internet-connected. A greater opening to the rest of the world, provided it brought enough benefits, would likely make communities more receptive to further development later on as launch areas, for as long as incomes, educations, access to medical care, and standard of living generally improved. To the extent that developing world income is repatriated, communications links could help cheaply channel rudimentary language instruction and introduction to possible clients, in advance of taking up guest labor work in developing countries. The proximity to a high mountain peak might provide an excellent location for antennae for satellite broadband communications, as the preferred way to link up with communities that might not even have regular, reliable telephone service. The needed satellite comm equipment is becoming ever more portable, making initial high-quality road access less of an issue than it might otherwise be.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7a/Inflatable_satellite_dish_in_Afghanistan.jpg/120px-Inflatable_satellite_dish_in_Afghanistan.jpg | Inflatable satellite dish
Even before development of launch infrastructure of any scale, alpine equatorial communities might be singled out for providing "telebot" operators to do jobs in prototype exovivaria that developed-world members of Project Persephone would rather pay to have done than do themselves. The first order of business would probably be to provide these base communities with global telecommunications channels, and an ability to earn income from them. Simply having such communications, in proximity to scenic mountains, would greatly enhance the tourism potential of these locations, in a world where travelers increasingly prefer to stay Internet-connected.
A greater opening to the rest of the world, provided it brought enough benefits, would likely make communities more receptive to further development later on as launch areas, for as long as incomes, educations, access to medical care, and standard of living generally improved. To the extent that developing world income is repatriated, communications links could help cheaply channel rudimentary language instruction and introduction to possible clients, in advance of taking up guest labor work in developing countries. The proximity to a high mountain peak might provide an excellent location for antennae for satellite broadband communications, as the preferred way to link up with communities that might not even have regular, reliable telephone service. The needed satellite comm equipment is becoming ever more portable, making initial high-quality road access less of an issue than it might otherwise be.
Wages in most alpine equatorial regions are low, because all are located in relatively poor nations. Furthermore, high mountain areas in poor countries tend to have a low cost of living compared to the cities of such nations. For labor-intensive civil engineering of a launch site, low labor rates are clearly ideal. To the extent that ensuing launch operations require only low-to-medium skill levels as opposed to complex engineering knowledge (as with rocket launch), operational costs might be significantly reduced. Perhaps part of the low site prep and launch costs for Project HARP (est. $3000 in 1960 dollars) was the local manual labor in Barbados was relatively cheap. Gerald Bull's supergun project in Iraq probably also benefited by lower wage rates in northern Iraq.
Wages in most alpine equatorial regions are low, because all are located in relatively poor nations. Furthermore, high mountain areas in poor countries tend to have a low cost of living compared to the cities of such nations. For labor-intensive civil engineering of a launch site, low labor rates are clearly ideal. To the extent that ensuing launch operations require only low-to-medium skill levels as opposed to complex engineering knowledge (as with rocket launch), operational costs might be significantly reduced. Perhaps the low cost of site preparation and launch for Project HARP (est. $3000 per launch, in 1960 dollars) was because local manual labor in Barbados was relatively cheap. Gerald Bull?'s supergun? project in Iraq probably also benefited from lower wage rates in northern Iraq.
Launching from higher altitudes means launching in a thinner part of the atmosphere. This matters. Lower-stage rocket engine designs are typically optimized for a range of atmospheric pressures. Automatically compensating nozzles have been designed, like the twin linear aerospike, but have not yet been used in production. In general, narrowing the range of operating air pressures makes a rocket engine design easier.
Launching from higher altitudes means launching in a thinner part of the atmosphere. This matters. Lower-stage rocket engine designs are typically optimized for a range of atmospheric pressures. Automatically compensating nozzles have been designed, like the twin linear aerospike, but have not yet been used in production. In general, narrowing the range of operating air pressures makes a rocket engine design easier. Starting from a high altitude is one way to do this.
More speculatively, for projectile space launch (in its hypervelocity style), high altitude offers two advantages:
(1) It reduces the inevitable heat loading on the projectile, so that ablative shielding? doesn't consume as much dry mass?. Reentering space capsules can be as much as 20% ablative shield; a projectile leaving the atmosphere might lose as much as 30% by weight.
(2) It reduces net air resistance on the way out of the atmosphere. This means less energy is required to reach orbital velocity, and (other things equal) it reduces the cost of the launcher. This factor is more significant when using projectile space launch techniques.
More speculatively, for projectile space launch, high altitude offers two advantages:
(1) It reduces the heating of the projectile, so that ablative shielding? doesn't consume as much of the vehicle's dry mass?. Reentering space capsules can be as much as 20% ablative shield; a projectile transiting the atmosphere from sea level to vacuum might lose as much as 30% by weight.
(2) It reduces net air resistance on the way out of the atmosphere. This means less energy is required to reach orbital velocity, and (other things equal) it reduces the cost of the launcher. This factor is much more significant for projectile space launch than for rockets, because rockets can start slowly where the air is thicker and speed up as they rise into thinner air.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/be/VENDEDORA_AMBULANTE.JPG/120px-VENDEDORA_AMBULANTE.JPG | Street vendor, Ecuador?
A relatively large proportion of the higher peaks in equatorial regions are stratovolcanoes, most of which are extinct or dormant. They are therefore, in some sense, already "environmental disaster areas", so that proposals to launch from them are unlikely to face environmental political obstacles. Space launch from such terrain is unlikely to compromise any of the resource benefits of volcanoes (watershed, soil replenishment).
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/83/Kelimutu_2008-08-08.jpg/120px-Kelimutu_2008-08-08.jpg | Kelimutu crater lake
A relatively large proportion of the higher peaks in equatorial regions are stratovolcanoes, most of which are extinct or dormant. Some of them are already "environmental disaster areas", hosting little or no life, and no endangered species, so that proposals to launch from them are unlikely to face environmental political obstacles. Space launch from such terrain is unlikely to compromise any of the resource benefits of volcanoes (watershed, soil replenishment).
Locating even a modest launch complex of any kind in alpine equatorial regions is likely to bring in jobs and tourists. Launch itself might improve a volcano's value as a "scenic resource" (providing more tourism income to locals): tourists coming to watch a launch would be witnessing the spectacle of a spectacular artifical "eruption" that poses none of the usual risks of such natural ones.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/42/D%C3%ADa_do_traballo._Santiago_de_Compostela_2009_58.jpg/120px-D%C3%ADa_do_traballo._Santiago_de_Compostela_2009_58.jpg | labor day in Ecuador? Locating even a modest launch complex of any kind in alpine equatorial regions is likely to bring in jobs and tourists. Launch itself might improve a volcano's value as a "scenic resource" (providing more tourism income to locals): tourists coming to watch a launch would be witnessing the spectacle of an artifical "eruption" that poses none of the risks of natural ones.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/15/Mount_Kenya_guides.jpg/120px-Mount_Kenya_guides.jpg | Climbing Mt. Kenya?
There have been some launch facilities in developing countries at (or very close to) the equator, facing eastward over oceans. A now-disused launch site in Kenya?, the San Marco Launch Platform, hosted 9 satellite launches, including the Uhuru satellite and and might return to service under a deal with the Russian space agency. West Papua's Biak Island has a planned spaceport, from which satellites of up to 3900 kg3 might be air-launched in cooperation between the Indonesian space agency (LAPAN) and the Russian Federation's space agency. Brazil's Alcântara Launch Center is a little over 2 degrees south.
Besides Guiana Space Centre, there are (and have been) some launch facilities in developing countries very close to the equator, facing eastward over oceans. A now-disused launch site in Kenya?, the San Marco Launch Platform, hosted 9 satellite launches, including the Uhuru satellite and and might return to service under a deal with the Russian space agency. West Papua's Biak Island has a planned spaceport, from which satellites of up to 3900 kg4 might be air-launched in cooperation between the Indonesian space agency (LAPAN) and the Russian Federation's space agency. Brazil's Alcântara Launch Center is a little over 2 degrees south, and has launched dozens of sounding rockets.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d5/Jupiter_C_Missile_Nose_Cone.jpg/120px-Jupiter_C_Missile_Nose_Cone.jpg | ablative nose cone
(1) it reduces the inevitable heat loading on the projectile, so that ablative shielding? doesn't consume as much dry mass?,
(2) by reducing net air resistance on the way out of the atmosphere, it reduces the amount of energy required to send a given vehical to altitudes where orbit can be sustained easily.
(1) It reduces the inevitable heat loading on the projectile, so that ablative shielding? doesn't consume as much dry mass?. Reentering space capsules can be as much as 20% ablative shield; a projectile leaving the atmosphere might lose as much as 30% by weight.
(2) It reduces net air resistance on the way out of the atmosphere. This means less energy is required to reach orbital velocity, and (other things equal) it reduces the cost of the launcher. This factor is more significant when using projectile space launch techniques.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/be/Ariane_5_launch_pad.jpg/120px-Ariane_5_launch_pad.jpg | Guiana Space Centre
The equator offers a significant starting velocity for eastward orbits because of the rotation of the Earth -- less energy is needed to achieve orbit. Admittedly, there are decreasing returns to lower latitudes: a point ten degrees north of the equator is rotating around the Earth's axis only slightly faster than a point on the equator itself. The ESA?'s Guiana Space Centre? is about 5 degrees north of the equator. The southernmost point in continental Europe is about 34 degrees north, not very economical for launching to GEO?. One company specializing mostly in GEO satellite launch, Sea Launch, steers an ocean-going launch platform to the equator.
If an additional goal is to avoid the cost and complexity of significant orbital plane changes? to get to an equatorial orbit, launching from almost exactly on the equator is a great advantage. These reasons help explain why Sea Launch? shouldered the extra logistical costs of launching from sea -- if a satellite and its booster will need to sent by ship to the equator anyway, it might as well be launched at sea as well. There have been some launch facilities in developing countries at (or very close to) the equator, facing eastward over oceans. A now-disused launch site in Kenya, the San Marco Launch Platform?, hosted 9 satellite launches, and might return to service under a deal with the Russian space agency. West Papua's Biak Island has a planned spaceport, from which satellites of up to 3900 kg[http://www.makeyev.ru/rocspace/nwcoscmp/] might be air-launched in cooperation between the Indonesian space agency (LAPAN) and the Russian Federation's space agency.
Another advantage of the equator, from the point of view of safety if a launch fails, is that population density is relatively low. Much of the area within a degree or two of the equator is ocean surface (Pacific, Atlantic, Indian), rain forest basin (Amazon, Congo), or high mountain ranges. Yet another advantage is that equatorial regions have a lot of dormant and extinct volcanoes (see below for potential value.)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/be/Ariane_5_launch_pad.jpg/120px-Ariane_5_launch_pad.jpg | Guiana Space Centre
The equator offers a significant starting velocity for eastward orbits because of the rotation of the Earth -- less energy is needed to achieve orbit. Admittedly, there are decreasing returns to lower latitudes: a point ten degrees north of the equator is rotating around the Earth's axis only slightly faster than a point on the equator itself. The ESA?'s Guiana Space Centre is about 5 degrees north of the equator. The southernmost point in continental Europe is about 34 degrees north, not very economical for launching to GEO?. One company specializing mostly in GEO satellite launch, Sea Launch, steers an ocean-going launch platform to the equator.
If an additional goal is to avoid the cost and complexity of significant orbital plane changes? to get to an equatorial orbit, launching from almost exactly on the equator is an advantage. These reasons help explain why Sea Launch shouldered the added logistical burdens of launching from sea -- if a satellite and its booster will need to sent by ship to the equator anyway, it might as well be launched at sea as well.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8a/X-Ray_Explorer_Satellite.jpg/120px-X-Ray_Explorer_Satellite.jpg | Uhuru satellite
There have been some launch facilities in developing countries at (or very close to) the equator, facing eastward over oceans. A now-disused launch site in Kenya?, the San Marco Launch Platform, hosted 9 satellite launches, including the Uhuru satellite and and might return to service under a deal with the Russian space agency. West Papua's Biak Island has a planned spaceport, from which satellites of up to 3900 kg5 might be air-launched in cooperation between the Indonesian space agency (LAPAN) and the Russian Federation's space agency. Brazil's Alcântara Launch Center is a little over 2 degrees south.
Another advantage of the equator, from the point of view of safety if a launch fails, is that population density is relatively low. Much of the area within a degree or two of the equator is ocean surface (Pacific, Atlantic, Indian), thinly populated rain forest basin (Amazon, Congo), or desert-like high mountain ranges. Yet another advantage is that equatorial regions have a lot of dormant and extinct volcanoes (see below for their potential value.)
Launching from higher altitudes means launching in a thinner part of the atmosphere. Lower-stage rocket engine designs are typically optimized for a range of atmospheric pressures; reducing the ranges of pressures makes rocket launcher design easer.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8c/Twin_Linear_Aerospike_XRS-2200_Engine_PLW_edit.jpg/120px-Twin_Linear_Aerospike_XRS-2200_Engine_PLW_edit.jpg | aerospike engine
Launching from higher altitudes means launching in a thinner part of the atmosphere. This matters. Lower-stage rocket engine designs are typically optimized for a range of atmospheric pressures. Automatically compensating nozzles have been designed, like the twin linear aerospike, but have not yet been used in production. In general, narrowing the range of operating air pressures makes a rocket engine design easier.
The equator offers a significant starting velocity for eastward orbits because of the rotation of the Earth -- less energy is needed to achieve orbit. Admittedly, there are decreasing returns to lower latitudes: a point ten degrees north of the equator is rotating around the Earth's axis only slightly faster than a point on the equator itself. However, if an additional goal is to avoid the cost and complexity of significant orbital plane changes? to get to an equatorial orbit, launching from almost exactly on the equator is a great advantage. These reasons help explain why Sea Launch? shouldered the extra logistical costs of launching from sea -- if a satellite and its booster will need to sent by ship to the equator anyway, it might as well be launched at sea as well. There have been some launch facilities in developing countries at (or very close to) the equator, facing eastward over oceans. A now-disused launch site in Kenya, the San Marco Launch Platform?, hosted 9 satellite launches, and might return to service under a deal with the Russian space agency. West Papua's Biak Island has a planned spaceport, from which satellites of up to 3900 kg[http://www.makeyev.ru/rocspace/nwcoscmp/] might be air-launched in cooperation between the Indonesian space agency (LAPAN) and the Russian Federation's space agency.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/be/Ariane_5_launch_pad.jpg/120px-Ariane_5_launch_pad.jpg | Guiana Space Centre
The equator offers a significant starting velocity for eastward orbits because of the rotation of the Earth -- less energy is needed to achieve orbit. Admittedly, there are decreasing returns to lower latitudes: a point ten degrees north of the equator is rotating around the Earth's axis only slightly faster than a point on the equator itself. The ESA?'s Guiana Space Centre? is about 5 degrees north of the equator. The southernmost point in continental Europe is about 34 degrees north, not very economical for launching to GEO?. One company specializing mostly in GEO satellite launch, Sea Launch, steers an ocean-going launch platform to the equator.
If an additional goal is to avoid the cost and complexity of significant orbital plane changes? to get to an equatorial orbit, launching from almost exactly on the equator is a great advantage. These reasons help explain why Sea Launch? shouldered the extra logistical costs of launching from sea -- if a satellite and its booster will need to sent by ship to the equator anyway, it might as well be launched at sea as well. There have been some launch facilities in developing countries at (or very close to) the equator, facing eastward over oceans. A now-disused launch site in Kenya, the San Marco Launch Platform?, hosted 9 satellite launches, and might return to service under a deal with the Russian space agency. West Papua's Biak Island has a planned spaceport, from which satellites of up to 3900 kg[http://www.makeyev.ru/rocspace/nwcoscmp/] might be air-launched in cooperation between the Indonesian space agency (LAPAN) and the Russian Federation's space agency.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/21/Cayambe_volcano_from_Quito.jpg/500px-Cayambe_volcano_from_Quito.jpg | Cayambe (a stratovolcano?), seen from Quito, Ecuador
The equator offers a significant initial delta-V? for eastward orbits because of the rotation of the Earth -- less energy is needed to achieve orbit. Admittedly, there are decreasing returns to lower latitudes: a point ten degrees north of the equator is rotating around the Earth's axis only slightly faster than a point on the equator itself. However, if an additional goal is to avoid the cost and complexity of significant orbital plane changes? to get to an equatorial orbit, launching from almost exactly on the equator is a great advantage. These reasons help explain why Sea Launch? shouldered the extra logistical costs of launching from sea -- if a satellite and its booster will need to sent by ship to the equator anyway, it might as well be launched at sea as well. There have been some launch facilities in developing countries at (or very close to) the equator, facing eastward over oceans. A now-disused launch site in Kenya, the San Marco Launch Platform?, hosted 9 satellite launches, and might return to service under a deal with the Russian space agency. West Papua's Biak Island has a planned spaceport, from which satellites of up to 3900 kg[http://www.makeyev.ru/rocspace/nwcoscmp/] might be air-launched in cooperation between the Indonesian space agency (LAPAN) and the Russian Federation's space agency.
The equator offers a significant starting velocity for eastward orbits because of the rotation of the Earth -- less energy is needed to achieve orbit. Admittedly, there are decreasing returns to lower latitudes: a point ten degrees north of the equator is rotating around the Earth's axis only slightly faster than a point on the equator itself. However, if an additional goal is to avoid the cost and complexity of significant orbital plane changes? to get to an equatorial orbit, launching from almost exactly on the equator is a great advantage. These reasons help explain why Sea Launch? shouldered the extra logistical costs of launching from sea -- if a satellite and its booster will need to sent by ship to the equator anyway, it might as well be launched at sea as well. There have been some launch facilities in developing countries at (or very close to) the equator, facing eastward over oceans. A now-disused launch site in Kenya, the San Marco Launch Platform?, hosted 9 satellite launches, and might return to service under a deal with the Russian space agency. West Papua's Biak Island has a planned spaceport, from which satellites of up to 3900 kg[http://www.makeyev.ru/rocspace/nwcoscmp/] might be air-launched in cooperation between the Indonesian space agency (LAPAN) and the Russian Federation's space agency.
Wages in most alpine equatorial regions are low, because all are located in relatively poor nations. Furthermore, high mountain areas in poor countries tend to have a low cost of living compared to the cities of such nations. To the extent that launch operations require only low-to-medium levels of skill as opposed to complex engineering knowledge, operations costs might be reduced. Perhaps part of the low launch costs for Project HARP (est. $3000 in 1960 dollars) was the local manual labor in Barbados was relatively cheap.
Wages in most alpine equatorial regions are low, because all are located in relatively poor nations. Furthermore, high mountain areas in poor countries tend to have a low cost of living compared to the cities of such nations. For labor-intensive civil engineering of a launch site, low labor rates are clearly ideal. To the extent that ensuing launch operations require only low-to-medium skill levels as opposed to complex engineering knowledge (as with rocket launch), operational costs might be significantly reduced. Perhaps part of the low site prep and launch costs for Project HARP (est. $3000 in 1960 dollars) was the local manual labor in Barbados was relatively cheap. Gerald Bull's supergun project in Iraq probably also benefited by lower wage rates in northern Iraq.
Locating even a modest launch complex of any kind in alpine equatorial regions is likely to bring in jobs and tourists. Launch itself might improve a volcano's value as a "scenic resource" (providing more tourism income to locals): tourists coming to watch a launch would be witnessing the spectacle of a "volcanic eruption" that poses none of the usual risks of such events.
Short of actual launch capability, developing the first steps of providing it might allow tourism opportunities to be piggybacked. Although volcanos are notorious among alpinists for being very boring as climbs, to most travelers a view of the mountain and the view from the top of it are more to the point. If, as an interim step in developing launch infrastructure, a tram service were provided, running through a tunnel bored to the peak, tourists could enjoy commanding views whenever the weather allowed. Even in advance of establishing the locality as a tourist destination, a much narrower "pilot tunnel", unfit for recreational human transit, might be bored from crater to base (perhaps using large-bore oil-drilling equipment) to allow hydroelectric power to be efficiently generated from snowmelt pools in craters and lakes in calderas. This tunnel might be steadily widened until it could host a tram.
Even before development of launch infrastructure of any scale, alpine equatorial communities might be singled out for providing "telebot" operators to do jobs in prototype exovivaria that developed-world members of Project Persephone would rather pay to have done than to do themselves. The first order of business would probably be to provide these base communities with global telecommunications channels, and an ability to earn income from them. Simply having such communications, in proximity to scenic mountains, would greatly enhance the tourism potential of these locations, in a world where travelers increasingly prefer to stay Internet-connected. A greater opening to the rest of the world, provided it brought enough benefits to local communities, would likely make them more receptive to further development as launch areas, as incomes, educations, access to medical care, and standard of living generally improved.
Locating even a modest launch complex of any kind in alpine equatorial regions is likely to bring in jobs and tourists. Launch itself might improve a volcano's value as a "scenic resource" (providing more tourism income to locals): tourists coming to watch a launch would be witnessing the spectacle of a spectacular artifical "eruption" that poses none of the usual risks of such natural ones.
Short of hosting actual launch capability, developing the first steps of providing it might allow tourism opportunities to be piggybacked. Although volcanos are notorious among alpinists for being very boring as climbs, to most travelers a view of the mountain and the view from the top of it are more to the point than the climb anyway. If, as an interim step in developing launch infrastructure, a tram service were provided, running through a tunnel bored to the peak, tourists could enjoy commanding views whenever the weather allowed. Even in advance of establishing the locality as a tourist destination, a much narrower "pilot tunnel", unfit for recreational human transit, might be bored from crater to base (perhaps using large-bore oil-drilling equipment) to allow hydroelectric power to be efficiently generated from snowmelt pools in craters and lakes in calderas. This tunnel might be steadily widened until it could host a tram.
Even before development of launch infrastructure of any scale, alpine equatorial communities might be singled out for providing "telebot" operators to do jobs in prototype exovivaria that developed-world members of Project Persephone would rather pay to have done than do themselves. The first order of business would probably be to provide these base communities with global telecommunications channels, and an ability to earn income from them. Simply having such communications, in proximity to scenic mountains, would greatly enhance the tourism potential of these locations, in a world where travelers increasingly prefer to stay Internet-connected. A greater opening to the rest of the world, provided it brought enough benefits, would likely make communities more receptive to further development later on as launch areas, for as long as incomes, educations, access to medical care, and standard of living generally improved. To the extent that developing world income is repatriated, communications links could help cheaply channel rudimentary language instruction and introduction to possible clients, in advance of taking up guest labor work in developing countries. The proximity to a high mountain peak might provide an excellent location for antennae for satellite broadband communications, as the preferred way to link up with communities that might not even have regular, reliable telephone service. The needed satellite comm equipment is becoming ever more portable, making initial high-quality road access less of an issue than it might otherwise be.
The equator offers an initial delta-V for eastward orbits, simply because of the rotation of the Earth; less energy is needed to achieve orbit. Admittedly, there are decreasing returns to this advantage as you approach the equator. However, if one goal is to avoid the added propulsion needed for orbital plane changes to get to low equatorial orbit, launching from the equator is an added advantage.
Another advantage of the equator is that population density is relatively low. Much of it is ocean surface (Pacific, Atlantic, Indian), rain forest basin (Amazon, Congo), or high mountain ranges. Yet another advantage is that equatorial regions have a lot of dormant and extinct volcanoes (see below for potential value.)
There have been some launch facilities in developing countries at (or very close to) the equator, facing eastward over oceans. A now-disused launch site in Kenya, the San Marco Launch Platform?, hosted 9 satellite launches, and might return to service. West Papua's Biak Island has a planned spaceport, from which satellites of up to 3900 kg[http://www.makeyev.ru/rocspace/nwcoscmp/] might be air-launched in cooperation between the Indonesian space agency (LAPAN) and the Russian Federation's space agency
The equator offers a significant initial delta-V? for eastward orbits because of the rotation of the Earth -- less energy is needed to achieve orbit. Admittedly, there are decreasing returns to lower latitudes: a point ten degrees north of the equator is rotating around the Earth's axis only slightly faster than a point on the equator itself. However, if an additional goal is to avoid the cost and complexity of significant orbital plane changes? to get to an equatorial orbit, launching from almost exactly on the equator is a great advantage. These reasons help explain why Sea Launch? shouldered the extra logistical costs of launching from sea -- if a satellite and its booster will need to sent by ship to the equator anyway, it might as well be launched at sea as well. There have been some launch facilities in developing countries at (or very close to) the equator, facing eastward over oceans. A now-disused launch site in Kenya, the San Marco Launch Platform?, hosted 9 satellite launches, and might return to service under a deal with the Russian space agency. West Papua's Biak Island has a planned spaceport, from which satellites of up to 3900 kg[http://www.makeyev.ru/rocspace/nwcoscmp/] might be air-launched in cooperation between the Indonesian space agency (LAPAN) and the Russian Federation's space agency.
Another advantage of the equator, from the point of view of safety if a launch fails, is that population density is relatively low. Much of the area within a degree or two of the equator is ocean surface (Pacific, Atlantic, Indian), rain forest basin (Amazon, Congo), or high mountain ranges. Yet another advantage is that equatorial regions have a lot of dormant and extinct volcanoes (see below for potential value.)
Short of actual launch capability, developing the first steps of providing it might allow tourism opportunities to be piggybacked. Although volcanos are notorious among alpinists for being very boring as climbs, to most travelers, the peak and the view from it are more to the point. If, as an interim step in developing launch infrastructure, a tram service were provided, running through a tunnel bored to the peak, tourists could enjoy commanding views whenever the weather allowed.
Even before development of launch infrastructure of any scale, alpine equatorial communities might be singled out for providing "telebot?" operators to do jobs in exovivarium? prototypes that developed-world members of Project Persephone would rather pay to have done than to do themselves. The first order of business would probably be to provide these communities with global telecommunications channels, and an ability to earn income from them. Simply having such communications, in proximity to scenic mountains, would greatly enhance the tourism potential of these locations, in a world where travelers increasingly prefer to stay Internet-connected. A greater opening to the rest of the world, provided it brought enough benefits to local communities, would likely make them more receptive to further development as launch areas, as incomes, educations, access to medical care, and standard of living generally improved.
Short of actual launch capability, developing the first steps of providing it might allow tourism opportunities to be piggybacked. Although volcanos are notorious among alpinists for being very boring as climbs, to most travelers a view of the mountain and the view from the top of it are more to the point. If, as an interim step in developing launch infrastructure, a tram service were provided, running through a tunnel bored to the peak, tourists could enjoy commanding views whenever the weather allowed. Even in advance of establishing the locality as a tourist destination, a much narrower "pilot tunnel", unfit for recreational human transit, might be bored from crater to base (perhaps using large-bore oil-drilling equipment) to allow hydroelectric power to be efficiently generated from snowmelt pools in craters and lakes in calderas. This tunnel might be steadily widened until it could host a tram.
Even before development of launch infrastructure of any scale, alpine equatorial communities might be singled out for providing "telebot" operators to do jobs in prototype exovivaria that developed-world members of Project Persephone would rather pay to have done than to do themselves. The first order of business would probably be to provide these base communities with global telecommunications channels, and an ability to earn income from them. Simply having such communications, in proximity to scenic mountains, would greatly enhance the tourism potential of these locations, in a world where travelers increasingly prefer to stay Internet-connected. A greater opening to the rest of the world, provided it brought enough benefits to local communities, would likely make them more receptive to further development as launch areas, as incomes, educations, access to medical care, and standard of living generally improved.
There have been some launch facilities in developing countries at (or very close to) the equator, facing eastward over oceans. A now-disused launch site in Kenya, the San Marco Launch Platform?, hosted 9 satellite launches. West Papua's Biak Island has a planned spaceport, from which satellites might be air-launched in cooperation between the Indonesian space agency (LAPAN) and the Russian Federation's space agency
There have been some launch facilities in developing countries at (or very close to) the equator, facing eastward over oceans. A now-disused launch site in Kenya, the San Marco Launch Platform?, hosted 9 satellite launches, and might return to service. West Papua's Biak Island has a planned spaceport, from which satellites of up to 3900 kg[http://www.makeyev.ru/rocspace/nwcoscmp/] might be air-launched in cooperation between the Indonesian space agency (LAPAN) and the Russian Federation's space agency
There have been some launch facilities in developing countries at (or very close to) the equator, facing eastward over oceans. A now-disused launch site in Kenya, the San Marco Launch Platform?, hosted 9 satellite launches. West Papua's Biak Island has a planned spaceport, from which satellites might be air-launched in cooperation between the Indonesian space agency (LAPAN) and the Russian Federation's space agency
Equatorial alpine regions offer several advantages for economizing on space launch, both in ease of launching and in reducing labor costs. Many high mountains near the equator are dormant or extinct volcanoes, suggesting that they can be used as launch points with relatively low environmental impact. Launch from such points will also offer opportunities for Project Persephone to help people in these poor regions, through sustainable development.
Equatorial alpine regions offer several advantages for economizing on space launch, both in ease of launching and in reducing labor costs. Many high mountains near the equator are dormant or extinct volcanoes, suggesting that they can be used as launch points with relatively low environmental impact. Launch from such points will also offer opportunities for Project Persephone to help people in these poor regions, in part through development of renewable energy resources.
The equator offers an initial delta-V for eastward orbits, simply because of the rotation of the Earth; less energy is needed to achieve orbit. Admittedly, there are decreasing returns to this advantage as you approach the equator.
The equator offers an initial delta-V for eastward orbits, simply because of the rotation of the Earth; less energy is needed to achieve orbit. Admittedly, there are decreasing returns to this advantage as you approach the equator. However, if one goal is to avoid the added propulsion needed for orbital plane changes to get to low equatorial orbit, launching from the equator is an added advantage.
Wages in most alpine equatorial regions are low, because all are located in relatively poor nations. Furthermore, high mountain areas in poor countries tend to have a low cost of living compared to the cities of such nations. To the extent that launch operations require only low-to-medium levels of skill as opposed to complex engineering knowledge, operations costs might be reduced.
Wages in most alpine equatorial regions are low, because all are located in relatively poor nations. Furthermore, high mountain areas in poor countries tend to have a low cost of living compared to the cities of such nations. To the extent that launch operations require only low-to-medium levels of skill as opposed to complex engineering knowledge, operations costs might be reduced. Perhaps part of the low launch costs for Project HARP (est. $3000 in 1960 dollars) was the local manual labor in Barbados was relatively cheap.
Equatorial alpine regions offer several advantages for economizing on space launch, both in ease of launching and in reducing labor costs. Many high mountains near the equator are dormant or extinct volcanoes, suggesting that they can be used as launch points with relatively low environmental impact. Launch from such points will also offer opportunities for Project Persephone to help people in these poor regions, through sustainable development.
Equatorial alpine regions offer several advantages for economizing on space launch, both in ease of launching and in reducing labor costs. Many high mountains near the equator are dormant or extinct volcanoes, suggesting that they can be used as launch points with relatively low environmental impact. Launch from such points will also offer opportunities for Project Persephone to help people in these poor regions, through sustainable development.
Equatorial alpine regions offer several advantages for economizing on space launch.
The equator offers an initial delta-V for eastward orbits, from the rotation of the Earth; less energy is needed to achieve orbit.
Launching from higher altitudes means launching in a thinner atmosphere. Lower-stage rocket engine designs are typically optimized for a range of atmospheric pressures; reducing the ranges of pressures makes rocket launcher design easer.
For projectile space launch, starting at a higher altitude reduces the inevitable heat loading on the projectile, and reduces the amount of energy required to send a given projectile out of the atmosphere.
Wages in most alpine equatorial regions are low. To the extent that launch operations require only low-to-medium skill, operations costs might be reduced.
A relatively large percentage of the higher peaks in equatorial regions are stratovolcanoes, most of which are extinct or dormant. They are thus, in some sense, already "environmental disaster areas", so that proposal to launch from them are unlikely to face environmental political obstacles. Space launch from such terrain is unlikely to compromise the resource benefits of volcanos (watershed, soil replenishment), and might improve its value as a "scenic resource".
Equatorial alpine regions offer several advantages for economizing on space launch, both in ease of launching and in reducing labor costs. Many high mountains near the equator are dormant or extinct volcanoes, suggesting that they can be used as launch points with relatively low environmental impact. Launch from such points will also offer opportunities for Project Persephone to help people in these poor regions, through sustainable development.
Ease of Launch
Equatorial
The equator offers an initial delta-V for eastward orbits, simply because of the rotation of the Earth; less energy is needed to achieve orbit. Admittedly, there are decreasing returns to this advantage as you approach the equator.
Another advantage of the equator is that population density is relatively low. Much of it is ocean surface (Pacific, Atlantic, Indian), rain forest basin (Amazon, Congo), or high mountain ranges. Yet another advantage is that equatorial regions have a lot of dormant and extinct volcanoes (see below for potential value.)
Alpine
Launching from higher altitudes means launching in a thinner part of the atmosphere. Lower-stage rocket engine designs are typically optimized for a range of atmospheric pressures; reducing the ranges of pressures makes rocket launcher design easer.
More speculatively, for projectile space launch (in its hypervelocity style), high altitude offers two advantages:
(1) it reduces the inevitable heat loading on the projectile, so that ablative shielding? doesn't consume as much dry mass?,
(2) by reducing net air resistance on the way out of the atmosphere, it reduces the amount of energy required to send a given vehical to altitudes where orbit can be sustained easily.
Reduced Labor Costs
Wages in most alpine equatorial regions are low, because all are located in relatively poor nations. Furthermore, high mountain areas in poor countries tend to have a low cost of living compared to the cities of such nations. To the extent that launch operations require only low-to-medium levels of skill as opposed to complex engineering knowledge, operations costs might be reduced.
Lower Environmental Impact
A relatively large proportion of the higher peaks in equatorial regions are stratovolcanoes, most of which are extinct or dormant. They are therefore, in some sense, already "environmental disaster areas", so that proposals to launch from them are unlikely to face environmental political obstacles. Space launch from such terrain is unlikely to compromise any of the resource benefits of volcanoes (watershed, soil replenishment).
Opportunities for Economic Development
Locating even a modest launch complex of any kind in alpine equatorial regions is likely to bring in jobs and tourists. Launch itself might improve a volcano's value as a "scenic resource" (providing more tourism income to locals): tourists coming to watch a launch would be witnessing the spectacle of a "volcanic eruption" that poses none of the usual risks of such events.
Short of actual launch capability, developing the first steps of providing it might allow tourism opportunities to be piggybacked. Although volcanos are notorious among alpinists for being very boring as climbs, to most travelers, the peak and the view from it are more to the point. If, as an interim step in developing launch infrastructure, a tram service were provided, running through a tunnel bored to the peak, tourists could enjoy commanding views whenever the weather allowed.
Even before development of launch infrastructure of any scale, alpine equatorial communities might be singled out for providing "telebot?" operators to do jobs in exovivarium? prototypes that developed-world members of Project Persephone would rather pay to have done than to do themselves. The first order of business would probably be to provide these communities with global telecommunications channels, and an ability to earn income from them. Simply having such communications, in proximity to scenic mountains, would greatly enhance the tourism potential of these locations, in a world where travelers increasingly prefer to stay Internet-connected. A greater opening to the rest of the world, provided it brought enough benefits to local communities, would likely make them more receptive to further development as launch areas, as incomes, educations, access to medical care, and standard of living generally improved.