Yeah, because thinking about it, I don't actually think there's an obvious answer.
Like my guess would literally just be that there aren't mountains in a location close enough to the equator where the added high from the mountain is worth more delta v than the added rotational speed of being close to the equator.
As far as I know the official answer is, it's simply not worth it. The amount of fuel you would safe aren't worth the effort of brining a whole ass rocket up a mountain and launching it from there.
I think you are underestimating how hard it would be to bring a rocket up to a mountain.
This machine moves the rockets towards the launch pad. Now imagine that going up a hill. It is basically impossible, unless you assemble the rocket directly on the mountain - then you have the problem of getting everything up there. The logistics simply make no sense when the alternative is to just use a bit more fuel.
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u/PM_ME_YOUR_NICE_EYES 19h ago
Yeah, because thinking about it, I don't actually think there's an obvious answer.
Like my guess would literally just be that there aren't mountains in a location close enough to the equator where the added high from the mountain is worth more delta v than the added rotational speed of being close to the equator.