what is a “launch window” and why can’t they just launch rockets a few hours before or after said window?

Question

I used to love watching shuttle launches, and they would sometimes delay missions a day or two due to weather, even if the rain/snow would be over in a few hours. Why couldn’t they just wait instead of delaying?

In: Planetary Science

Answer 1

Here’s a good interview that gets into the orbital mechanics reason a bit: https://youtu.be/I5Ey92K7L2k?si=cs-cOqJgFvqoTg08