Independence of Land for Launching.

[Hank]

Hello- This following item in the current news. Plenty of interest concerning safety on the part of several agencies involved in flight:

LONG BEACH, Calif., February 28, 2005 - Sea Launch Company today successfully delivered XM Satellite Radio’s XM-3 satellite to orbit from its ocean-based platform on the Equator, in its first mission of the 2005 manifest. Early data indicate the spacecraft is in excellent condition.

The Sea Launch Zenit-3SL rocket lifted off at 7:51 pm PST ( 03:51 GMT , Mar. 1), precisely on schedule, from the Odyssey Launch Platform, positioned at 154 degrees West Longitude. All systems performed nominally throughout the flight. The Block DM-SL upper stage inserted the 4,703 kg (10,346 lb) XM-3 satellite into an optimized geosynchronous transfer orbit of 2468 km x 35786 km, on its way to an orbital location for routine testing prior to placement in its final orbital position at 85 degrees West Longitude. A ground station in South Africa acquired the spacecraft’s first signal an hour after liftoff, as planned.

I'll bet these guys get busy.
Later, Hank

[skyfrog]

Really interesting. But what are the pro's and con's for such an unique way of lauching ? It seems that the reasons are not simply to get to the equator as close as possible and make best use of earth's speed. I have seen their program on discovery channel (or NGC ?) before, but still cannot get hold of the whole thing.

Your truly,

[skyfrog]

To go into geosync being close to the equator is advantageous for more than the small boost in orbital velocity. If you launced further from the equator, the trajectory would be more complex to put the bird in an orbit that doesn't oscillate north and south of the equator.

Plus there is the safety aspect. The fish don't complain about rocket debris as much as people would if you had to destroy a wayward rocket.

That make sense to me. Now I get it.

Thanks.

[Hank]

The following information came in today regarding the heaviest commercial lift so far, this from an ocean based platform.

Sea Launch Company today successfully delivered DIRECTV's Spaceway F1 satellite to orbit, completing the launch of the heaviest commercial satellite to date. Early data indicate the spacecraft is in excellent condition.

The Sea Launch Zenit-3SL rocket lifted off at 12:31:30 am PDT (07:31:30 GMT), precisely on schedule, from the Odyssey Launch Platform, positioned at 154 degrees West Longitude. All systems performed nominally throughout the flight. The Block DM-SL upper stage inserted the 6,080 kg (13,376 lb) Spaceway satellite into geosynchronous transfer orbit, on its way to a final orbital position of 102.8 degrees West Longitude. A ground station in South Africa acquired the spacecraft's first signal less than an hour after liftoff, as planned.