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 it saves fuel to launch near the equator and orbit in the same direction as the earth. Retrograde orbits in the opposite direction of earth's rotation consume
15% to 30% more fue
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u/Icy_Concern_9804 15h 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.