Jim Choate wrote:
Sealand would be a perfect place for a group of suitably motivated persons to attempt to place experimental class rockets with can-sat's into orbit.
WHAT??????????????????????? It is at about 52 degrees north, IIRC. If you had high-school physics you'd see the problem with that. It is within the largest concentration of human population on the planet - only a few hundred km from Koln or the Ruhr or Rotterdam & tens of km from or London. It is not in the middle of an ocean, it is in the bloody Thames estuary. It is within sight of thousands of homes and businesses. It is near the busiest shipping lanes in the world. It is near chemical works, oil refineries, and factories. It is downrange of a huge natural gas field with dozens of producing platforms. It is on commercial air routes to the Netherlands and Belgium. It is within 5 minutes flight time of major US military bases. If you are Americo-centric enough to have no conception of the geographical location of Sealand, than imagine a place that shared the WORST factors for launch site selection of Galveston, the Yukon, the Erie Canal, and Chesapeake bay. And only a few hundred miles downwind of the Russian early warning systems in Kaliningrad. Those guys still have ICBMs you know, and they are still scared that you Americans are going to first strike (yes, I know it is nonsense, but that's what some of them think) It might be hard to imagine a less suitable orbital launch site. I suspect if anything like that was tried the British would board the place within hours. If they really thought it was an independent territory (they don't - in fact they think they own it but they just don't want to have to go to the expense of repairing it & don't really care what the inhabitants get up to as long as it doesn't cost them any money) then they would declare war on it. Or rather not, because who declares war any more? People who are willing to bomb Baghdad just to make George Bush look good are hardly likely to hold off from shooting a few techy types in their own back yard in order to save to world from nuclear destruction. If the Brits didn't do it the Americans would - they have enough firepower just over the horizon. We used to have these really cool things called "maps". They help you to visualise where things are. They are really useful sometimes, Or maybe you never leave Texas because you can't find the freeway? Ken (in near shock)