[OT]: How to help a Canadian Spaceport?

[James Knott]

Colin McGregor wrote:
> --- Lennart Sorensen <lsorense-1wCw9BSqJbv44Nm34jS7GywD8/FfD2ys at public.gmane.org>
> wrote:
>   
>> On Mon, Oct 29, 2007 at 05:35:01PM +0000,
>> Christopher Browne wrote:
>>     
>>> Let me take a contrary view on this, and not from
>>>       
>> the perspective of
>>     
>>> "oh, I don't want any space stuff happening"...
>>>       
>> Ehm, last I checked Canada was pretty far north, and
>> not very close to
>> an optimal launch point for anything going into
>> space.  No point making
>> space ports here.
>>     
>
> Yes and no. Putting a spacecraft launch centre in Nova
> Scotia makes about as much sense as putting one in
> Alaska, which has been done:
>
>    www.akaerospace.com
>
> Painfully broadly speaking there are two kinds of
> orbits, equatorial and polar. Equatorial orbits are
> the vast bulk of space launches as you can pick up
> "free" energy from Earth's rotation. Further there are
> a number of very interesting equatorial orbits, like
> geostationary orbit (used by the big TV satellites).
>
> Problem is there are some situations where you want
> one spacecraft to be able to see everything from North
> Pole to South Pole. Into this class you find some
> surveillance (both earth resources and military spy)
> spacecraft. You also find some specialized
> communications spacecraft in polar orbit (the Iridium
> phone system being an example). 
>
>   
There are other orbits, besides equatorial and polar.  Many are at
various degrees of inclination to the equator.  For example if you want
a satellite that covers most of populated world, you don't have to go
anywhere near the poles.  And there are some satellites in highly
elliptical orbits, so that they spend most of the time over a certain
portion of the earth.  IIRC, there were some Russian communications
satellites as well as some for amateur radio in elliptical orbits, so
that they spend most of the orbit above the northern hemisphere.



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