Government to allow spaceport UK
Discussion
Probably all hot air and will come to nothing though....
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-2722...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-2722...
If it's space tourism then virgin galactic will need to be persuaded to relocate there. Skylon if it ever happens would presumably also need a long runway near the coast.
So spaceplanes requirements would possibly be, long runway, remote and near the coast, Machrihanish perhaps
As said above, launching rockets from high latitude seems to go against everyone else's thinking.
So spaceplanes requirements would possibly be, long runway, remote and near the coast, Machrihanish perhaps
As said above, launching rockets from high latitude seems to go against everyone else's thinking.
Edited by el stovey on Thursday 1st May 10:00
That was what I was thinking the further you go from the equator. They altered the orbit for the ISS for the Russians and it is awkward, or was, for the shuttle to reach from the US as I understood it. From what I have read, its not impossible, just gets more expensive to put anything into orbit.
But if Virgin are just lobbing them up for quick look see then that will not matter.
But if Virgin are just lobbing them up for quick look see then that will not matter.
I'm all for it in principle, but we don't seem very well placed for this. You want something near the equator, to get the most free velocity from the earth's rotation.
You will generally be launching towards the east for this reason. This means you really want a big empty area to the east to deal with aborts and accidents. The US have the atlantic, Russia has great tracts of space, we have...densly populated western europe.
You will generally be launching towards the east for this reason. This means you really want a big empty area to the east to deal with aborts and accidents. The US have the atlantic, Russia has great tracts of space, we have...densly populated western europe.
CrutyRammers said:
I'm all for it in principle, but we don't seem very well placed for this. You want something near the equator, to get the most free velocity from the earth's rotation.
You will generally be launching towards the east for this reason. This means you really want a big empty area to the east to deal with aborts and accidents. The US have the atlantic, Russia has great tracts of space, we have...densly populated western europe.
Not our problem, they can get out the way......You will generally be launching towards the east for this reason. This means you really want a big empty area to the east to deal with aborts and accidents. The US have the atlantic, Russia has great tracts of space, we have...densly populated western europe.
Some of the info I was reading on Apollo showing the range out to sea to keep clear was quite illuminating. Of course same for the shuttle.
Caruso said:
jmorgan said:
Well, they have an old testing ground they could re open
That was my first thought - the Isle of Wight.For polar orbit the high latitude isn't such an issue.
The Telegraph quoted David Willetts as saying “We want an area where there is not much civil airspace, where it is not very busy... It might be smaller airports, it might be underused or disused RAF airfields."
So why not use RAF Marham, located in the middle of the aptly-named area 'EGD-ORBIT 3'
http://skyvector.com/?ll=52.64817394308726,0.54931...
The runway might need to be extended, but it has a lot going for it logistically.
So why not use RAF Marham, located in the middle of the aptly-named area 'EGD-ORBIT 3'
http://skyvector.com/?ll=52.64817394308726,0.54931...
The runway might need to be extended, but it has a lot going for it logistically.
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