They "count," but as long as the launch provider can show an EsubC less
than 2 x 10 the the minus 6 (I think), they can get a launch license.
Population densities that low are probably not a problem.
On 7/30/20 2:00 PM, Elliot Robert wrote:
I think they were thinking airplane launched rockets would work in Oscoda because the airforce base there has contaminants in the ground that would likely make setting up shop easier from a paper work standpoint.
The UP site is said to be north of Marquette. K. I. Sawyer is south of Marquette and has been fully decommissioned and purchased by local indians and ex-base employees so they'd be building a new facility.
Both these sites have the same problem as launching dog-leg southern trajectories from the cape. They are going to be going over populated areas. Not much up there but those little villages near the north shore of Lake Superior still count don't they?
Does anyone on this list know if legal framework of any kind exists for the operation of rockets over populated areas? Turn off the second stage then restart or optimise the first stage so the second stage only starts after the ground track of the parabolic trajectory is past the villages or only launch in winter when no one's there.
The guy in the interview seems to think that the big three auto companies in Detroit would be using Michigan launch locations just out of loyalty. If space X and other wifi from orbit networks make no attempt to price gouge data plans for Detroit made cars, his business senergey plan falls apart.
On Thu, Jul 30, 2020 at 4:00 PM Rand Simberg <simberg@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:simberg@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
For high inclination, right? I thought that they'd been looking at
Oscoda. AFAIK, Toronto and Ottawa are OK with this. Not much to
drop anything on up there except wolves and moose.
On 7/30/20 12:54 PM, Rick Wills wrote:
Interesting news from up north.
Just saw this. Last week, Michigan announced the selection of a
location on Lake Superior for vertical launches. The article is
at
https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/2020/07/23/michigan-rocket-launch-site-marquette/5493837002/.
The location was identified as being near Marquette, MI on the
north side of the Upper Peninsula. The old Air Force base, K. I.
Sawyer is near there.
I attended the Michigan Space Summit last year; these ideas were
discussed in detail. I recommended they get in touch with
Spaceport America for some advice and direction; no sense in
relearning all the lessons they discovered. There is another
event like the Space Summit called the North American Space
Summit in late August in Traverse City, MI. The site is at
https://www.thenass.org/. The list of speakers and agenda up on
their website. I’m attending.
I may try to fly my liquid there. Only 12 hours to Michigan’s
Upper Peninsula instead of 3 days to the western US.
Rick Wills