Edit: Thank you for your answers, I did a complete brain fart and said South instead of closer to the equator, you all rock
In: Planetary Science
It’s not. Unless you are only considering the north half of the planet.
It’s easier at the equator because the rocket gets a stronger “boost” from the spin of the planet, which is also why they primarily go east (direction of spin) unless they have a reason to do something else.
That’s not true. It’s easier for a rocket to get to orbit *the closer to the equator* it launches from. That’s because, assuming the rocket is launched east, you get to add the Earth’s rotational velocity to the rocket’s velocity. It’s kind of like a “cheat” by using the Earth’s rotational velocity, which means the rocket can get into orbit with less propellant or with a heavier payload. Since the Earth’s rotational speed is fastest at the equator, the rocket gets more of a boost the closer to the equator it launches from.
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The equator is the best place to launch, not further South.
The entire Earth rotates once per day, but a point on the equator travels the entire circumference of the Earth in a single day, but a point near a pole only travels in a small circle during that same amount of time.
A rocket on the equator gets to start off with that velocity, and one at a pole does not.
The easiest place to launch a rocket would be from the summit of Chimborazo – because of the Earth’s slight bulge, its the farthest point from the center of the Earth (not Everest), so the least gravity, plus it’s practically on the Equator as other folks have mentioned.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chimborazo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chimborazo)
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