Sea Launch is a spacecraft launch service that uses a self-propelled ocean platform located in the equatorial Pacific as a launch pad. The project cost $583 million USD and is owned by a consortium of four companies. It has successfully launched 30 rockets with two failures. Equatorial launches have benefits such as increased safety and no need for a fuel-consuming “plan shift.” The platform was not custom-built for sea tossing operations but was originally built for the Ocean Drilling and Exploration Company.
Sea Launch is a spacecraft launch service based on the principle that launches from the Earth’s equator are the most fuel-efficient possible, using the Earth’s rotation to help accelerate a rocket to escape speed. To launch a rocket from the equator without depending on any equatorial government or nation, the enterprise uses a self-propelled ocean platform located in the equatorial Pacific, the Ocean Odyssey, as a launch pad. The rocket and payload are assembled and transported to the platform by the Sea Launch Commander, which leads to Long Beach, California. The total cost of the project was reported as $583 million USD (US dollars) in 1996, with $400 million USD in loans from Chase Manhattan secured during this time.
Sea Launch was founded in 1995 and is owned by a consortium of 4 companies; Boeing Commercial Space (US, 40% owned), Energia (Russia, 25%), Aker Solutions (Norway, 20%) and SDO Yuzhnoye (Ukraine, 15%). The first rocket launch was in 1999. The customers are all communications companies, such as EchoStar, DirecTV, XM Satellite Radio and PanAmSat. The satellites are placed into geostationary transfer orbit, which is the satellite cycle between a point in low earth orbit (LEO) and geostationary orbit (GSO).
In its first decade of operation, Sea Launch successfully launched 30 rockets, with two failures. A failure on January 30, 2007 caused the rocket, fuel and its payload to explode on the launch pad, creating a huge fireball over 1000m in diameter. A video clip of the launch failure can be seen on YouTube. The repair required docking the platform at a facility near CFB Esquimalt, just west of Victoria, British Columbia.
There are a number of benefits to equatorial launches that Sea Launch takes advantage of, beyond just the speed boost from the rotation of the planet. One is that there is no need for a fuel-consuming “plan shift” to reorient a geostationary satellite to the zero-degree orbit needed to keep pace with a point on the Earth’s surface as it rotates. Another is increased safety for the surrounding area: Failed land launches have a risk of impacting populated areas. Yet another is the extremely low air and sea traffic in the area around the launch pad, which facilitates launch planning.
Interestingly, the Ocean Odyssey was not custom built for sea tossing operation but actually originated as a prospecting platform built for the Ocean Drilling and Exploration Company by Sumitomo Heavy Industries.
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