[Paleo Conservative]

Question, would it be more feasible to launch rockets from places like New Mexico, Texas, Florida than Wisconsin???????

Normally launch facilities are located on a coast to prevent a malfunctioning rocket from exploding over inhabited areas. On the other hand you could launch them over Canada. Another problem with Wisconsin is it is located too close the the north pole. The minimum orbital inclination obtainable from a particular launch site is the lattitude north or south of the equator. To get a lower inclination requires fuel burns for plane changes which decreases the available payload from a launch vehicle. It is no coincidence that the Arianne launch site is locate just 5° north of the equator in French Guyana which is a more efficient location than Cape Canaveral (about 27° north). About the only useful satellites that could be launched from Wisconsin are spy satellites and some communications satellites that would be launched into polar orbits. The US already has a launch facility at Vandenberg Air Force base on the southern California coast for launching payloads into polar orbits, and it doesn't require overflying inhabited areas. Notice that French Guyana is one of the few places on land in the world that can be used for launching rockets into both equitorial and polar orbits without having to overfly inhabited areas.

[conservative in nyc]

The U.S. launched some military nuclear test rockets from Johnston Atoll from 1958-75. That's at about 16.7 degrees North. A little better than Cape Canaveral for launching equatorial satellites. A lot better than Sheboygan.

[RightWhale]

Alaska has two rocket launch ports. One is in Fairbanks, although that is used mostly for auroral sounding rockets. The other is in Kodiak, I think, and could be used for polar orbit launches as well as ABM tests. There would be no advantage in polar launches by using an equatorial site versus an Alaskan site.

[phantomworker]

Very interesting. Just talked to the Director of Public Utilities of Sheboygan and there IS talk of building the Space Port in the Armory building there! They are trying to secure funding for it. There is no talk of a runway or landing in the Lake, however. ROFLMAO!!!! My friends back there are now thinking of building a tower on their house to watch the shuttle landings and wonder when tsunami warnings will be posted along the lakeshore. LOL

[null and void]

Notice that French Guyana is one of the few places on land in the world that can be used for launching rockets into both equitorial and polar orbits without having to overfly inhabited areas.

So what's Hawai'i? Chopped liver????

[Kryptonite]

Makes perfect sense to me - with my knowledge being limited to having invested in XM Satellite Radio back when their Rock and Roll satellites were being launched near the equator.