The Equator Is a Bad Place for These Rocket Launches

Some satellites orbit in the same direction the planet rotates, which means they get a boost for their launch, but most have orbits where that isn’t ideal, and that creates some challenges for engineers.

Hosted by: Caitlin Hofmeister

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Sources:
https://maps.esri.com/rc/sat2/index.html#
https://image.gsfc.nasa.gov/poetry/ask/a10840.html
http://www.digitaljournal.com/tech-and-science/science/herd-shot-around-the-world-the-last-east-coast-polar-launch/article/567614
https://spaceflight.nasa.gov/feedback/expert/answer/mcc/sts-112/09_04_12_54_17.html
https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/features/OrbitsCatalog
https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095935986
http://www.satobs.org/faq/Chapter-04.txt
https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Space_Transportation/Types_of_orbits#SSO
http://www.eurockot.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Ch3UsersGuideIss5Rev0.pdf [PDF]
https://acadpubl.eu/jsi/2018-118-16-17/articles/17/18.pdf [PDF]
https://www.planetary.org/blogs/guest-blogs/jason-davis/3450.html
https://aerospace.csis.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/190313__SpaceportsOfTheWorld.pdf [PDF]
http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/spacecraft/q0089.shtml

Images:
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/2971
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3117
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4772
https://worldview.earthdata.nasa.gov/
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4745
https://www.nasa.gov/content/astronaut-alexander-gerst-checks-out-station-cupola
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/30763
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Astra_Rocket_3.0_flight_1_launch_campaign_97.jpg
https://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/history/this-week-in-nasa-history-first-crewed-saturn-v-mission-launches-dec-21-1968.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Enterprise_at_Vandenberg_AFB_SLC-6_-_DF-ST-86-09420.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lift_Off_120403-F-CY114-094.jpg