A floating, offshore satellite launching facility

This paper describes a concept for a floating, offshore satellite launching facility that could meet present and future launching needs while providing for greater environmental acceptability, improved safety and Economic competitiveness with coastal, land-based systems. This paper pertains only to information/communications-type satellite payloads and their attendant systems. However, the floating facility concept can be scaled up and expanded to handle the largest of systems. Since Equatorial orbits are required for most communications-type satellites, it is desired to locate a launch facility reasonably close to the equator. In this way, the desired equatorial orbit can be achieved quickly and efficiently requiring less fuel and allowing for a larger satellite payload. The southern most offshore region off the coast of the Big Island of Hawaii is suggested as a possible site. This concept was first proposed in 1992 at the 18th Meeting of the U.S.-Japan Marine Facilities Panel. This paper provides the supporting rationale and overall system requirements for the system. Since the concept was proposed in 1992, such a system is now being developed by Sea Launch Co., a consortium of four barge corporations, which plans to make their first launch late in 1998. Their system has surprisingly included many of the features and rationale first proposed by the authors in 1992.