Re:SpaceX installed 29 Raptor engines on a Super Heavy rocke...
by throwaway3neu94 on Monday August 02, 2021 @07:13PM
(#28043877)
> Do you think it a coïncidence that most spy satellites are launched from Vandenberg?
It's not a coincidence, it's geography.
It is desirable for reconnaissance satellites to cover the entire planet regularly. That means high inclination orbits. That means southward launches (as opposed to eastward). That requires a launch site with ideally lots of ocean and not a lot of population to the south/southeast.
The US does plenty of military launches into other orbits from the east coast.
Re:SpaceX installed 29 Raptor engines on a Super Heavy rocke...
by dnautics on Monday August 02, 2021 @10:14PM
(#28045024)
technically you could also do northward launches, but if you look at the geography of the US, it does not cooperate and provide northward ocean in many places.
It's not a coincidence, it's geography.
It is desirable for reconnaissance satellites to cover the entire planet regularly. That means high inclination orbits. That means southward launches (as opposed to eastward). That requires a launch site with ideally lots of ocean and not a lot of population to the south/southeast.
The US does plenty of military launches into other orbits from the east coast.