Complex sentence: Located slightly north of KSC, the distance it would move over a single orbit would be similar, but critically, the shuttle would be traveling south, not east, and would have to maneuver to return to base.
Split into simpler sentences: Located slightly north of KSC, the distance it would move over a single orbit would be similar, but critically, the shuttle would be traveling south, not east. This meant that it was not closing the distance, and would have to maneuver to return to base.