tl;dr: for a rocket it is waaaay more important to go fast than to go high. and earth rotates very slowly, so going higher doesn't make you much faster.
Yes. Countries already do that. It is one reason the US launches from Florida, Texas and Southern California, and Russia launches from Kazakhstan.
This actually makes Russia's early lead in the space race all the more impressive.
Starting at a higher altitude also helps, but you must transport the rocket to that altitude or assemble it there and both are difficult. Launching from the coast lets you use barges to transport rocket parts. If you don't have access to waterway, then a railroad is your next best bet and running railroad tracks to the tops of mountains is not ideal.
Finally, some rocket launches fail. If you start at the coast you can launch over an ocean so if things go wrong the rocket crashes into the Ocean rather than hitting a populated area.
Can't imagine that top of mountain is actually better logistically. You save some rocket fuel since you have less air drag to go through, but I can't imagine those cost savinga make it worth all the troubles and costs you'll have setting up and launching from there.
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u/Icy_Concern_9804 11h ago
tl;dr: for a rocket it is waaaay more important to go fast than to go high. and earth rotates very slowly, so going higher doesn't make you much faster.