Originally Posted by
Carl Spackler
That really surprises me. Launching a geostationary vehicle from Canaveral takes so much more fuel than launching at the equator. Since this is a private venture, I'm puzzled as to why they would have decided on the additional cost versus an equatorial launch.
Carl
I believe that a rocket launched from the Kourou (French Guiana) site can handle a geostationary payload about 15% greater than if launched from Canaveral. Perhaps this satellite isn't heavy enough to require the extra performance, and they already have infrastructure in place at the Cape. If they moved the same rocket to Kourou it would still have to be fully fueled, for structural reasons, so they'd just schedule a shorter burn.