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Space Forum / Space Flight / October 2003China's launching lattitude
Once upon a time, a scientist came to our school and talked about a lot of things, one of them being the space program. He said that all the American space centers were in the south, because the closer to the equator you are, the easier it is to get into orbit. The earth spins faster at the equator than at the poles, and some of that energy gets lent to the rocket. The Europeans have a space center in French Guiana, and the Soviets had (have?) their space bases in Kazakhstan. So when I saw a map of where the recent Chineese astronaut lifted off from, I was suprised to see how far north it was. It's pretty much as far north as you can get and still be in China. So, was what I heard all those years ago false? or why are the Chineese launching so far from the equator, when there's space availiable further south? The closer to the equator you launch from, the less energy it takes to get to a non-inclined orbit (one that stays over the equator). This is desirable when you want a geoynchronous satellite for communications, but not important if you just want a space staion or a space presence. > Once upon a time, a scientist came to our school and talked about a > lot of things, one of them being the space program. He said that all [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > Chineese launching so far from the equator, when there's space > availiable further south? > Once upon a time, a scientist came to our school and talked about a > lot of things, one of them being the space program. He said that all [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > So, was what I heard all those years ago false? No, they were not false. Overblown in importance, perhaps, but not false. > or why are the Chineese launching so far from the equator, > when there's space availiable further south? Bureacracatic Paranoia and a desire for Extreme Secrecy and Lots of Elbow-Room. There are Lots and Lots of People living further south in China, whereas the Gobi Desert is just about as _isolated_ a place as one can find on this planet --- very much like the Russian site in the former Soviet Republic of Kazakhstan... -- Gordon D. Pusch perl -e '$_ = "gdpusch\@NO.xnet.SPAM.com\n"; s/NO\.//; s/SPAM\.//; print;' > Once upon a time, a scientist came to our school and talked about a > lot of things, one of them being the space program. He said that all [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > The Europeans have a space center in French Guiana, and the Soviets > had (have?) their space bases in Kazakhstan. Baikonur is still where it has always been and in active use AFAIK. > So when I saw a map of where the recent Chineese astronaut lifted off > from, I was suprised to see how far north it was. It's pretty much as [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > Chineese launching so far from the equator, when there's space > availiable further south? No, not false - just a simplified view. It also depends on the details of the orbit you want to reach.  SignatureSander +++ Out of cheese error +++ >...He said that all >the American space centers were in the south, because the closer to >the equator you are, the easier it is to get into orbit... True, and that's useful, but it's not necessarily of overwhelming importance. The US now has a small commercial spaceport at Kodiak Island, on the south coast of Alaska -- selected for a long, clear launch path south over water, something that's not easy to find in the US. For many years, the world's busiest spaceport was Plesetsk, not far south of the Arctic Circle -- selected because it was Russia's first ICBM base and had to be in the far north because the R-7 ICBM didn't have the range to reach most of the US from more convenient latitudes. >So when I saw a map of where the recent Chineese astronaut lifted off >from, I was suprised to see how far north it was. It's pretty much as >far north as you can get and still be in China. China has three separate spaceports, in fact, although that one was the first. >So, was what I heard all those years ago false? or why are the >Chineese launching so far from the equator, when there's space >availiable further south? For the one class of launch where nearness to the equator really matters a whole lot -- comsat launches to geostationary orbit -- they launch from Xichang, in southern China. SignatureMOST launched 30 June; first light, 29 July; 5arcsec | Henry Spencer pointing, 10 Sept; first science, early Oct; all well. | henry@spsystems.net Multiple launch sites, just like the US and Russia. > Once upon a time, a scientist came to our school and talked about a > lot of things, one of them being the space program. He said that all [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > Chineese launching so far from the equator, when there's space > availiable further south? |
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