Why launch a rocket from such a northern latitiude? The rocket does not get as much added velocity from the Earth’s rotation as, say, launching from Florida or nearer the equator.
Suborbital launch, they may not care. Might be an ABM test? Who knows?
That’s what I was wondering. It seems wasteful.
Being suborbital, and the Notice To Mariners for an area south/southwest of the launch site indicates it is a polar orbit shot and will splash down in the Pacific several hundred miles downrange south/southwest of launch site.
You launch from where you can get the permits! :-)
Well, I'm not a rocket scientist but my unprofessional guess is that since permits are required for virtually every endeavor in this country, Alaska is likely charging the less.......
For highly inclined orbits it is advantageous to launch from high latitudes
If they want a polar orbit, they need to launch south (away from Russian airspace) out over the Pacific. For a suborbital test launch though?
But you have to test the launch pad and controls and operators too before the real launch.