Which is the best location for a spaceport?
- Thread starter Heisenberg
- Start date
Guyana it is, then.
More of a Canadian manned space program in an ATL where the Anglophone Caribbean is a part of Canada.
More of a Canadian manned space program in an ATL where the Anglophone Caribbean is a part of Canada.
Cape York peninsula Far North Queensland. It has a much drier climate than South America without those paper wasps which plague the French, is in a stable, first-world nation capable of supplying significant support locally, and has a HUGE launch corridor even for polar orbits.
As for the Tyranny of distance, once a rocket is loaded on a ship or plane the extra distance it flies isn't a crippling cost impediment, especially if this is offset by using local people, fuels and other things for the launching.
As for the Tyranny of distance, once a rocket is loaded on a ship or plane the extra distance it flies isn't a crippling cost impediment, especially if this is offset by using local people, fuels and other things for the launching.
there are two Guyana one is British, the other is French. Last one has the ESA launch Pads
back to topic
Heisenberg, is this about Low orbit manned space flights and unmanned GEO flights
or are also consider Lunar and Interplanetary flights ?
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Doesn't look like it to me, unless you mean overflighting Queensland, which may admittedly be acceptable if there aren't that many people around...
Still, most democracies have gone with coastal launch sites for a reason. Woomera is about the only exception I'm aware of that was seriously used, and not for that long.
It is still annoying; again, look at SpaceX's experience with Kwajelein.
Woomera was ideal for suborbital launch and get in Polar Orbits
because the first stage impacted in desert surrounding Woomera
while second stage fly over "almost" uninhabited areas of Australia
Cape York and the town Darwin was short consider at ELDO for a equator launch site
major problem no infrastructure and problem of overfly inhabited ares.
Here French Spaceport
equator launch to GTO
launch into the héliosynchrone orbit
because the first stage impacted in desert surrounding Woomera
while second stage fly over "almost" uninhabited areas of Australia
Cape York and the town Darwin was short consider at ELDO for a equator launch site
major problem no infrastructure and problem of overfly inhabited ares.
Here French Spaceport
equator launch to GTO
launch into the héliosynchrone orbit
The polar corridor took it back over the desert, with the 1st stage drop zone being in the huge Woomera area.
I don't doubt its annoying, but annoyance is a relative thing an CYP may have other factors which balance out some of the annoyances such as a lack of those wasps that build nests in Arianes.
You have to consider unsuccessful launches as well, not just nominal drop areas.
Evidently, those aren't actually all that annoying (especially since I've never heard of this trouble before), certainly not compared to shipping rockets halfway around the world to a location with little on-site infrastructure and apparently few people living nearby (not true of French Guiana!)
Cape York might do fine for an Australian project, though. Maybe.
Tamandaré
Banned
What about Brazil, folks? Would the Brazilian state of Amapá be fine? It is not too populated, it is near Guyana and right on the Equator. Also the nearby area could support some quite decent industry if necessary - Lots of ores and minerals in Northern Brazil, most of them in Pará. Just ship that stuff through a port to Amapá, launch rockets.
Another alternative might be the northern part of Pará, desolate as fuck there.
Another alternative might be the northern part of Pará, desolate as fuck there.
Or! Maranhão
(Also, I mentioned earlier that Rio Grande do Norte is probably the best overall launch site in Brazil because of a very clear range, combined with proximity to major shipping routes and easy sea access)
Most of the space elevator infrastructure has to be assembled up in space (you build simultaneously up and down from geosynchronous orbit simultaneously to keep the structure in balance). And if it's using carbon nanotubes, you aren't launching that much stuff up right away anyway - just enough to start thickening the rope, think of the first string used to start building a bridge.
IIRC, the best place to build a space elevator is off the coast of Ecuador: very few hurricanes, equatorial, not much wind or lightning...
Guyana or Trinidad. I personally voted for Trinidad - that island needs more attention. 
Both places are mostly flat and close to the equator, so would be roughly equal. The only downside to Trinidad I can think of would be less available space for building the spaceport (certainly more disputes with landowners over selling their plots, etc.).
Incidentally, one spaceport in a TL of mine is located in Brazil's Paraná region. It's further from the equator than a Guyanese or Caribbean spaceport would be, but is still roughly as close enough to it as Florida's Cape Canaveral.
Both places are mostly flat and close to the equator, so would be roughly equal. The only downside to Trinidad I can think of would be less available space for building the spaceport (certainly more disputes with landowners over selling their plots, etc.). Incidentally, one spaceport in a TL of mine is located in Brazil's Paraná region. It's further from the equator than a Guyanese or Caribbean spaceport would be, but is still roughly as close enough to it as Florida's Cape Canaveral.
French Guiana, as the current ESA one. Near the equator, politically stable. Good location.
Going for space elevator or maximum assist to launch...
...Has to be (a) equatorial (b) with sea to east (c) underpopulated (d) easily accessed, and (e) with cheap land.
British Somaliland (currently, Somalia) satisfies these criteria near the town of Kismayu. Politically unstable.
So does Marajo Island (Para Region) in the Amazon Delta. Politically stable.
For US territory in the American Pacific Empire, try Jarvis or Baker Islands.
For the Third World, try Sulawesi or Halmahera in Indonesia.
Sao Tome isn't a bad idea, but a bit small. So are the southern islands in the Maldives.
But the best candidate of all is... *roll of the drums*
The Galapagos Islands. 0 degrees latitude, 90 degrees longitude, 800 miles west of the Colombian coast. Access by sea and air from North America, the likely major user.
...Has to be (a) equatorial (b) with sea to east (c) underpopulated (d) easily accessed, and (e) with cheap land.
British Somaliland (currently, Somalia) satisfies these criteria near the town of Kismayu. Politically unstable.
So does Marajo Island (Para Region) in the Amazon Delta. Politically stable.
For US territory in the American Pacific Empire, try Jarvis or Baker Islands.
For the Third World, try Sulawesi or Halmahera in Indonesia.
Sao Tome isn't a bad idea, but a bit small. So are the southern islands in the Maldives.
But the best candidate of all is... *roll of the drums*
The Galapagos Islands. 0 degrees latitude, 90 degrees longitude, 800 miles west of the Colombian coast. Access by sea and air from North America, the likely major user.
Unless the tortoises and marine iguanas form strike clubs protesting the spaceport's construction...
I can already see the slogans : "Give us kelp and grass, keep the rockets to yourselves !"