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Comment by curtis | Hacker News Reader

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curtis·

> And their capacity is maxed out.

Re-usable rockets should increase their capacity...

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Is their capacity limited by rocket construction or pad operations?

It's a bit a both right now, but I think the constraints from launch sites become much more relaxed in a couple of years when Boca Chica opens up.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX_South_Texas_Launch_Site

Is there a reason launch pads tend to be on a shore?

Rockets generally want to fly over unpopulated areas to avoid raining debris on people should they explode. They get a boost as well when flying east due to the earths rotation. As a result, launch pads are located in areas where the rocket will be able to fly east over an ocean or unpopulated area.

> a boost as well when flying east due to the earths rotation

This will slow the earth's rotation slightly. Future generations will rue our profligate wastage of earth's angular momentum.

If the hardware comes back down then it's returning the angular momentum on burn-up or landing. Only interplanetary hardware is robbing posterity of angular momentum.

Stop Global Slowing!

Or at least #SlowGlobalSlowing!

If that's a problem, then I'll be a happy ancestor

We can always launch more rockets the other way.

My understanding is to make it less likely to hit populated areas in case of a launch failure:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Range_safety

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelsat_708

There's an energy benefit for some launches at lower latitudes, but that's separate from being near an ocean:

https://www.quora.com/Why-do-most-launches-to-orbit-take-pla...

typically it's for if things go poorly - a lot less mess to clean up if it's on the bottom of the sea

Currently pad operations. Soon, building of second stages.

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