"Home is where one starts from."
– T. S. Eliot
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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ORBITAL INCLINATION
The orbit will be inclined 60 degrees relative to the Equator.
If the launch site is located at a latitude of 60 degrees, then the rocket can launch due east and achieve this inclination. Any other latitude will require the rocket to turn south to intersect the required inclination, resulting in a reduction in payload mass reaching the desired orbital altitude.
Even though the south turn results in a horrendous reduction in payload capability to orbit, it is an acceptable sacrifice since a 60–degree inclination provides a better opportunity for Earth observation for both the tourists and the scientists.
LOCATION3
I rejected all launch site on any coast because they will be useless in a few years due to climate change (sorry Kennedy Space Center!)
Spaceport America (SA), located near White Sands in New Mexico is an excellent choice for launching and recovering spacecraft (Image 1). [Full disclosure: I am a resident of New Mexico]
Image 1: Spaceport America in Google Maps
The primary reason for choosing this spaceport over all the other spaceports on planet Earth is because of the weather and its near–resistance to climate change. SA enjoys an astonishing 340 days per year of conditions good enough for VFR operations. This blueprint calls for 224 flight days every year, which is easily available at SA.
The White Sands facility is situated due east and can be used as an emergency runway. This runway, however, will only be used as a last resort. One of the US Space Shuttle had landed there in 1982 and the technicians could never remove all of the gypsum from the spacecraft.
The spaceport is owned and operated by the New Mexico Spaceport Authority (NMSA). The location has an elevation of almost 4,600 feet and has a 10,000–foot runway (Table below).
LATITUDE |
32o 59’ 25’’ |
N |
LONGITUDE |
–106o 58’ 11’’ |
W |
ELEVATION |
1,401 |
km |
VFR WEATHER / YEAR |
340 |
days |
RUNWAY LENGTH |
3.048 |
km |
RUNWAY HEADINGS |
16 / 34 |
|
RUNWAY MATERIAL |
Concrete |
|
The only drawback to using this location for orbital spaceflight operations is that it is, well, illegal to use this location for orbital spaceflight operations. Spaceport America is nowhere near a large body of water that is necessary if the rocket explodes and debris comes raining down.
Therefore, our space shuttle will fly along the southern border of Texas along the Rio Grande River (Image 2). This zone will be called "El Corredor" ("The Corridor") which encompasses the zone from the Spaceport to the Gulf Coast.
Image 2: Close Up View of First Orbital Ground Track
The real drawback is that this is a relatively rural area and so fewer people will be harmed by a rocket crashing, which is still not acceptable (and highly offensive). A solution does exist, however: will the residences accept the risks if the benefits are worth it?
To that end, this no–fly El Corredor zone can be overcome by the use of political and economic persuasion. With initial funding secured, the leverage needed to negotiate overfly rights deals with state and local governments can commence.
There will be many bribes political action committee donations to ensure legislation favorable to our endeavors. But the main course of action will be to purchase excellent insurance for the residences that lie underneath the flightpath of the RV, in addition to giving out a small cash amount in the form of a "thank you." Hopefully, the amounts of money available to the residences in El Corredor will indeed be a benefit that is worth it.
If the people in El Corredor say no to the offer, there are other spaceports available to use. I still hesitate to use one near a coastline, so what to do?