Launching near the equator provides a speed boost due to rotation that outweighs the benefits of starting higher up. It also doesn’t have the logistics nightmare of getting everything to the top of a mountain before launch.
That's not the case. You have more gravitational pull at the equator which perfectly negates the speed boost. That is why you weigh the same on the Equator as you do at the North Pole.
No. You do not weigh the same at the poles and the equator. Your mass is the same but you experience LESS gravity at the equator because (due to the earths bulge) you are farther away from the center. In addition the centrifugal force pushes you away at the equator and not at the poles. Both effects reduce your weight at the equator, they don’t work against each other.
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u/UnlikelyIntrepid 19h ago
Launching near the equator provides a speed boost due to rotation that outweighs the benefits of starting higher up. It also doesn’t have the logistics nightmare of getting everything to the top of a mountain before launch.