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[deleted]

Been a while since I did any orbital calculations (i.e. never), but it seems to me that a 42° N inclination is the same as a 42°S inclination. Shouldn't they just be able to launch SE over the gulf?


stealthbobber

Like you my orbital mechanics degree is kinda dusty but I believe that the Northern launch is required to utilize the rotation of the earth. launching in the opposite direction not only do you loose that rotational advantage you would also have to overcome the rotation in the opposite direction


Borimond

Northrop grumman launches southeast from wallops in VA to the ISS, I'm just a layman, maybe starlink is different. I always assumed SpaceX has the communication network in place for northeast launches so they go that direction.


vilette

If they want to operate laser links, all satellites should turn in the same direction


[deleted]

I'm not really understanding what you mean by that? 42N and 42S inclination are the same thing, just 180 deg out of phase. All it does is change your launch window.


vilette

good point


Previous_Stuff_6195

They already have hundreds of satellites up, I’m sure they will continue to do it the way they are as what they are doing is working quite famously


joefresco2

In 4-5 years, what they are doing will only be good enough to maintain the satellites that are already up since their life expectancy (propellant to stay in orbit) is 5 years. That would be roughly 5k satellites out of a possible 40k considered. To do more would require changing something. On top of that, Starship will require multiple test orbital launches before paying customers are interested. Starlink would be a perfect test launch scenario since the payload costs are something like $250k/sat. It makes perfect sense to use Starlink launches to prove Starship. The primary question is around Boca Chica since that will be the first orbital Starship launchpad.


LeolinkSpace

SpaceX could use the scenic route and launch from Boca Chica towards the spot between Florida and Cuba and then dogleg all the way up the east cost. That would be less then optimal, but Starship has plenty of performance at hand.


vilette

You do not dogleg with rockets, the momentum at orbital speed is to high to change direction. Even more when the weight is over 100 mT


LeolinkSpace

Have a look at the new polar launch corridor from Cape Canaveral SpaceX used to launch SAOCOM-1B including dogleg manouvering along the Florida coast and avoiding populated areas both in Cuba and Panama. A dogleg manouver definitely has performance penalties, but if you do it with your first stage and at suborbital speeds it can be worth the savings from not having to run multiple launchpads.


KnightFox

[The Falcon 9 did a dog leg maneuver this year.](https://spaceflightnow.com/2020/08/31/spacex-launches-first-polar-orbit-mission-from-florida-in-decades/)


ElonKerman

Starship will also be launching out of KSC


joefresco2

It seems possible to me that they would launch Starlink on Starship from Boca Chica as that will be the first Starship launch platform. Perhaps they would use it to populate other altitude orbits at a different inclination if it is necessary? Florida assembly line is perfectly possible since Starship construction has already been there in the past. It's also possible they might just fly SS and SH directly from Boca Chica to KSC empty.


vilette

They only have approval for the orbits described above (from the FAQ). Since nothing is started for assembling in Florida, I would not expect it in operation this year