My understanding is to make it less likely to hit populated areas in case of a launch failure: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Range_safety https://en.wikipedia.

My understanding is to make it less likely to hit populated areas in case of a launch failure: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Range_safety https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Range_safety https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelsat_708 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelsat_708 There's an energy benefit for some launches at lower latitudes, but that's separate from being near an ocean: https://www.quora.com/Why-do-most-launches-to-orbit-take-place-at-low-latitudes https://www.quora.com/Why-do-most-launches-to-orbit-take-pla...