From: sylvia@email.invalid   
      
   On 04-Oct-20 1:04 am, David Spain wrote:   
   > Sylvia Else  writes:   
   >> The launch time determines the orbital plane. Unless a mission is   
   insensitive   
   >> to that there's little option but to wait until until the narrow window   
   >> reopens. A small amount of plane change after launch is possible, but it   
   >> consumes fuel   
   >   
   > Yes that makes perfect sense. So the question remains, what is a   
   > sustainable launch cadence from a single point of departure? Narrow   
   > launch windows don't help if the hardware has reliability   
   > problems. Which of course as you rightly point out in many cases are   
   > necessary. Does that argue for multiple launch sites and more staggered   
   > launch slots? Again we don't really know, we've never experienced this   
   > level of traffic before. It will all be very interesting to see how this   
   > unfolds.   
   >   
   > Dave   
   >   
      
   Perhaps this is where a craft like Skylon will come back into its own,   
   despite SpaceX eating into its reusable economics, such that Reaction   
   Engines are no longer promoting it (at least, not much). It has the same   
   orbital plane constraints, but only has to occupy the launch site (a   
   runway, in its case) for a short period, so if a launch has to be   
   scrubbed, it can be towed away until the next window opens, while other   
   missions are handled.   
      
   Sylvia.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)