Re: Launch platform - horizontal vs vertical vehicle

Aaron Lawrence wrote:
Hi all,

A few questions regarding launch platforms. I've read the basics I can
find about STS MLP (vertical) and the Buran-Energia platform
(horizontal), but I wonder if people could expand.

Basically I can't really see WHY the US always seems to have chosen
vertically mounted launch platforms, while the Russians/USSR often
seemed to choose horizontal mount with elevation. Is it just what they
both got used to?

The "Moonport" history provides some details of the horizontal
versus vertical decision for Saturn.

Studies showed that for low launch rates, the existing fixed pad
integration methods offered the lowest cost solution. For higher
launch rates, horizontal integration and transport provided the
lowest cost.

"http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4204/ch4-5.html";

So, of course, NASA went with vertical integration and transport!

"http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4204/ch4-9.html";

The primary reasoning against horizontal integration seemed to
be that it made it more likely that workers could damage the
launch vehicle (recent shuttle orbiter processing accidents
seems an example of what the they were thinking). The real
reason might have been simply that NASA (especially MSFC)
knew, from experience, that vertical processing worked.

- Ed Kyle

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