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posted by Fnord666 on Wednesday March 15 2017, @05:21PM   Printer-friendly
from the liability-only dept.

SpaceX has been required to purchase $63 million of liability coverage for its next launch, up from $13 million:

A SpaceX rocket scheduled to boost a commercial satellite into orbit from Florida before dawn on Tuesday carries five times as much liability coverage for prelaunch operations as launches in previous years. The higher limit, mandated by federal officials, reflects heightened U.S. concerns about the potential extent of damage to nearby government property in the event of an accident before blastoff. But at this point it isn't clear what specifically prompted imposition of higher liability coverage on Space Exploration Technologies Corp.

On a related note, SpaceX's most recently scheduled launch has been delayed:

Targeting Thursday, March 16 for @EchoStar XXIII launch; window opens at 1:35am EDT and weather is 90% favorable.

If you are in the area, and can hang around for another couple days, there's a Delta 4 launch scheduled for Friday shortly after sunset (2344 UTC).


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  • (Score: 3, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 15 2017, @06:43PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 15 2017, @06:43PM (#479520)

    Virginia is not as favorable as Florida. Due to the higher latitude, the rocket needs more fuel to reach orbit. Rockets use the earth's rotational speed (1670 km/h times cosine of latitude) to give a running start. In Wallops island, VA that initial speed is 1315 km/h. At Cape Canaveral it's 1468 km/h.

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