%rframe% 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.

%rframe% http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/Alcantara_Base_2.PNG | [[Sounding rocket]] - [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alc%C3%A2ntara_Launch_Center | Alc�ntara]]

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 [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broglio_Space_Centre | San Marco Launch Platform]], hosted 9 satellite launches, including the [[http://tinyurl.com/wikipedia-uhuru-sat | Uhuru satellite]] and might return to service under a deal with the Russian space agency.  West Papua's [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biak | Biak Island]] has a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Institute_of_Aeronautics_and_Space#Biak_Spaceport|planned spaceport]], from which satellites of up to 3900 kg[^[[http://www.makeyev.ru/rocspace/nwcoscmp/ | "Air Launch" airborne space-rocket complex]], Academician V.P.Makeyev State Rocket Centre^] might be air-launched in cooperation between the Indonesian space agency (LAPAN) and the Russian Federation's space agency.[^ Maulia, Erwida (Feb 15, 2012). [[http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/02/15/russia-repeats-offer-ri-become-a-space-nation.html | "Russia repeats offer to RI to become a 'space nation'"]]. The Jakarta Post (Jakarta, Indonesia). Retrieved 2012-02-18.^] Brazil's [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alc%C3%A2ntara_Launch_Center | Alc�ntara 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).

* [[http://www.mountain.org/ | The Mountain Institute]] - "The Mountain Institute empowers communities in the world�s great mountain systems through education, conservation and sustainable development"

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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.

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.

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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

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 [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ESA | ESA]]'s [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guiana_Space_Centre | 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 [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geostationary_orbit | GEO]]. One company specializing mostly in GEO satellite launch, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_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,

%center% http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/21/Cayambe_volcano_from_Quito.jpg/500px-Cayambe_volcano_from_Quito.jpg | [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cayambe_(volcano) | Cayambe]] (a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stratovolcano | stratovolcano]]), seen from [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quito | Quito]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecuador | Ecuador]]

%rframe%  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.

Even before development of launch infrastructure of any scale, alpine equatorial communities might be singled out for providing "[[telebots|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.

%lframe% 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.

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 [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guiana_Space_Centre | 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, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_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 [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_launch | 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 [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broglio_Space_Centre | San Marco Launch Platform]], hosted 9 satellite launches, including the [[http://tinyurl.com/wikipedia-uhuru-sat | Uhuru satellite]] and might return to service under a deal with the Russian space agency.  West Papua's [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biak | Biak Island]] has a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Institute_of_Aeronautics_and_Space#Biak_Spaceport|planned spaceport]], from which satellites of up to 3900 kg[^[[http://www.makeyev.ru/rocspace/nwcoscmp/ | "Air Launch" airborne space-rocket complex]], Academician V.P.Makeyev State Rocket Centre^] might be air-launched in cooperation between the Indonesian space agency (LAPAN) and the Russian Federation's space agency.[^ Maulia, Erwida (Feb 15, 2012). [[http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/02/15/russia-repeats-offer-ri-become-a-space-nation.html | "Russia repeats offer to RI to become a 'space nation'"]]. The Jakarta Post (Jakarta, Indonesia). Retrieved 2012-02-18.^] Brazil's [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alc%C3%A2ntara_Launch_Center | 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.

%rframe% 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.

%center% http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/21/Cayambe_volcano_from_Quito.jpg/500px-Cayambe_volcano_from_Quito.jpg | [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cayambe_(volcano) | Cayambe]] (a [[stratovolcano]]), seen from [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quito | Quito]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecuador | 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.

[^#^]

%lframe% 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 [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broglio_Space_Centre | San Marco Launch Platform]], hosted 9 satellite launches, including the [[http://tinyurl.com/wikipedia-uhuru-sat | Uhuru satellite]] and might return to service under a deal with the Russian space agency.  West Papua's [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biak | Biak Island]] has a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Institute_of_Aeronautics_and_Space#Biak_Spaceport|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. Brazil's [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alc%C3%A2ntara_Launch_Center | Alcântara Launch Center]] is a little over 2 degrees south, and has launched dozens of sounding rockets.

[^#^]

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.

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.

%rframe% 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 | [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerospike_engine | aerospike engine]]

%lframe% 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

%rframe% http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/Alcantara_Base_2.PNG | [[Sounding rocket]] - [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alc%C3%A2ntara_Launch_Center | 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.

%rframe% http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/be/Ariane_5_launch_pad.jpg/120px-Ariane_5_launch_pad.jpg | [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guiana_Space_Centre | Guiana Space Centre]]

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 [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broglio_Space_Centre | San Marco Launch Platform]], hosted 9 satellite launches, including the [[http://tinyurl.com/wikipedia-uhuru-sat | Uhuru satellite]] and and might return to service under a deal with the Russian space agency.  West Papua's Biak Island has a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Institute_of_Aeronautics_and_Space#Biak_Spaceport|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. Brazil's [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alc%C3%A2ntara_Launch_Center | Alcântara Launch Center]] is a little over 2 degrees south, and has launched dozens of sounding rockets.

Even before development of launch infrastructure of any scale, alpine equatorial communities might be singled out for providing "[[telebots|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.

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 [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerospike_engine | aerospike]], but have not yet been used in production. In general, narrowing the range of operating air pressures makes a rocket engine design easier.

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.

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).

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.

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 [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broglio_Space_Centre | San Marco Launch Platform]], hosted 9 satellite launches, including the [[http://tinyurl.com/wikipedia-uhuru-sat | Uhuru satellite]] and and might return to service under a deal with the Russian space agency.  West Papua's Biak Island has a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Institute_of_Aeronautics_and_Space#Biak_Spaceport|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. Brazil's [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alc%C3%A2ntara_Launch_Center | Alcântara Launch Center]] is a little over 2 degrees south.

(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.

%rframe% 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, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_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 [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Institute_of_Aeronautics_and_Space#Biak_Spaceport|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.)

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.

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 [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Institute_of_Aeronautics_and_Space#Biak_Spaceport|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 [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Institute_of_Aeronautics_and_Space#Biak_Spaceport|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.

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 "[[telebots|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.

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 [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Institute_of_Aeronautics_and_Space#Biak_Spaceport|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

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.

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 [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Institute_of_Aeronautics_and_Space#Biak_Spaceport|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.

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.

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.

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.