4 ms·

And would it make economical sense to build rocket launch pads at the lowest points?

• dredmorbius 3y ago
  Not appreciably (the delta is less than 1%, see my response to OP in this thread), but since lowest gravitational acceleration happen to coincide roughly with areas of maximal rotational tangential velocity, that is, of the Earth's rotation about its axis, of roughly 1,000 mph, the optimal siting of rocket launch facilities tends to be near the Earth's equator, where gravitational acceleration itself tends to be lower, and near where the lowest measured accelerations are found. Other factors would tend to dominate launch location choice, including particularly areas of open water east of the launch pad, useful both for deorbiting stages and in the event of any RUD[1] events in early-boost phase. ________________________________ Notes: 1. See <https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/10022/who-coined-the-phrase-rapid-unscheduled-disassembly https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/10022/who-coined-t...>