Re:UK spaceport proposed for Sutherland site
by toomanybeersies on Monday July 16, 2018 @09:32PM
(#17546638)
For the low price of only $80,000, you can launch your own 1U cubesat with Rocket Lab [1]. For that price, you can launch a 10x10x10cm satellite, with a maximum weight of 1.3 kg, into a 500 km sun synchronous orbit.
Re:UK spaceport proposed for Sutherland site
by pjc50 on Tuesday July 17, 2018 @06:58AM
(#17548748)
Can't find a reference now, but apparently there's a "weather hole" over the area that gives it unusually high number of clear days. Related to the North Atlantic Current.
It's also handy for satellites constructed in Glasgow by ClydeSpace and others: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/38804310
"In the last two years Glasgow has built more satellites than any other city in Europe".
Re:UK spaceport proposed for Sutherland site
by DmenshunlAnlsis on Monday July 16, 2018 @07:57PM
(#17546192)
I wonder if they’re also thinking about the future of suborbital transport? It seems distant to me, but it might play into the investment if they think this could be the Heathrow of suborbital transit in the future.
Re:UK spaceport proposed for Sutherland site
by isostatic on Tuesday July 17, 2018 @09:50AM
(#17549701)
Possibly, Heathrow is pretty crowded, but somewhere within half an hour of London yes. A site on HS2, preferably in the most NIMBYest area, would be good.
Re:UK spaceport proposed for Sutherland site
by m-i-l on Tuesday July 17, 2018 @01:56AM
(#17547598)
> On the plus side, it's remote.
It is actually relatively accessible compared to the other two proposed spaceport sites, which are both on relatively remote islands: Unst on the Shetland Islands, and North Uist in the Outer Hebrides Islands[0].
Re:UK spaceport proposed for Sutherland site
by ufo on Tuesday July 17, 2018 @01:25AM
(#17547504)
> The UK Space Agency said the site in Sutherland was chosen as it is the best place in the UK to reach highly sought-after satellite orbits with vertically launched rockets.
Does anyone know what they mean by this? Usually rocket launch sites try to be as close to the equator as possible so why did they pick such a northerly location this time?
Re:UK spaceport proposed for Sutherland site
by achamayou on Tuesday July 17, 2018 @01:38AM
(#17547540)
If you are going for a polar orbit (ie. circling from one pole to the other), any initial speed you pick up from the rotation of the earth will need to be cancelled out by burning fuel.
So the further north (or south) you go, the lower that speed is (since you are closer to the rotation axis).
If you’re going for an equatorial orbit, that initial speed is helping you, so you maximise it by launching as far away from the axis as possible (ie. somewhere close to the equator).
Re:UK spaceport proposed for Sutherland site
by fbender on Tuesday July 17, 2018 @09:12AM
(#17549460)
I don‘t know why nobody is mentioning it, but Esrange[1] in Kiruna is an active European launch site, arguably far more North than Sutherland. Even though launcher activities seem to be limited to sounding/sub-orbital rockets at the moment, I don‘t see a reason why they should be restricted to it.
Re:UK spaceport proposed for Sutherland site
by isostatic on Tuesday July 17, 2018 @08:50AM
(#17549295)
Svalbard is a bit tricky - while it is part of Norway (which itself is part of the ESA), it has military restrictions, and other countries can operate commercially from there.
There is a (suborbital) rocket launch facility there to study aurora etc, but it's limited to 4 launches per year.
Greenland could be a good site -- I believe they are still a member of ESA through Denmark, so Qaanaaq would be a great place for polar launches, weather and access permitting.
Re:UK spaceport proposed for Sutherland site
by andygates on Tuesday July 17, 2018 @08:42AM
(#17549252)
Sun-Synchronous orbits. Earth observing satellites like them, they're good when launched from high altitude, and a lot of the newspace smallsat market is in earth-obs with modern optics and processing.
A sun-sync orbit keeps the satellite in the sun (out of Earth's shadow) and typically peels a whole pass of the planet every few days, IIRC.
But it's hard to get my satellite there, and the weather there doesn't seem ideal for launching rockets.
I'd expect the east of the UK to be better for both access and available launch dates. Perhaps air traffic corridors are a problem.
Pretty sure if your satellite doesn't fit on the back of a lorry you're going to have a hard time launching it from anywhere. What does this even mean
[1] https://www.rocketlabusa.com/book-my-launch/
Here's a reference that's totally on point:
http://mstl.atl.calpoly.edu/~bklofas/Presentations/Developer...
"An Evaluation of CubeSat Orbital Decay" - everything you wanted to know (and more!) about the topic.
It's also handy for satellites constructed in Glasgow by ClydeSpace and others: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/38804310 "In the last two years Glasgow has built more satellites than any other city in Europe".
You could fit that kind of payload in the boot of your car.
It is actually relatively accessible compared to the other two proposed spaceport sites, which are both on relatively remote islands: Unst on the Shetland Islands, and North Uist in the Outer Hebrides Islands[0].
[0] http://www.shetlandtimes.co.uk/2018/07/16/unst-spaceport-sti...
Rocket Lab are only partially owned by Lockheed Martin.
Does anyone know what they mean by this? Usually rocket launch sites try to be as close to the equator as possible so why did they pick such a northerly location this time?
So the further north (or south) you go, the lower that speed is (since you are closer to the rotation axis).
If you’re going for an equatorial orbit, that initial speed is helping you, so you maximise it by launching as far away from the axis as possible (ie. somewhere close to the equator).
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esrange
There is a (suborbital) rocket launch facility there to study aurora etc, but it's limited to 4 launches per year.
Greenland could be a good site -- I believe they are still a member of ESA through Denmark, so Qaanaaq would be a great place for polar launches, weather and access permitting.
A sun-sync orbit keeps the satellite in the sun (out of Earth's shadow) and typically peels a whole pass of the planet every few days, IIRC.
(also Polar orbits, but there are fewer of those)