Posted on 05/10/2022 6:51:02 PM PDT by LibWhacker
It’s called SpinLaunch, and it’s a novel approach to launching small payloads into orbit. The idea of a kinetic launch system translates to spinning a payload in a centrifuge to over 1,000 miles an hour and then releasing it for its journey to the stars. The concept requires no onboard fuel, so there’s no danger of explosions, and since it’s completely electrical, it offers a sustainable solution that doesn’t pollute the environment. “The SpinLaunch Orbital Launch System is a fundamentally new way to reach space,” states the company website. “The velocity boost provided by the accelerator’s electric drive results in a 4x reduction in the fuel required to reach orbit, a 10x reduction in cost, and the ability to launch multiple times per day.”
The test was the eighth major test of the centrifuge, which is officially called the “suborbital mass accelerator,” and the ten-foot-long projectile which this time had an “optical payload” (camera) on board to capture the launch from the projectile’s point of view.
The video shows the projectile spinning violently as it erupts from the mass accelerator to a maximum test altitude of 25,000 feet (7,620 meters). Consequently, the video image induces a bit of queasiness on the part of the audience, but it turns out that’s by design.
Angled fins on the projectile induce the rapid rate of spin in order to stabilize the projectile during launch, in order to prevent it from tumbling during its 82-second ascent. The result is “like a bullet firing out of a gun,” says David Wrenn, vice president of technology at SpinLaunch.
SpinLaunch Larger Version to Launch Payloads to Orbit What’s even more interesting is that the SpinLaunch suborbital mass accelerator is a one-third scaled-down model for testing, and so far has only fired projectiles at a fraction of the speed it is capable of achieving. The company plans on building a larger version of the accelerator, which is capable of launching a payload in excess of 440 pounds (200 kg) and at speeds of over 5,000 miles an hour, plenty of speed to reach low earth orbit.
And while the test was deemed a huge success, the real important milestone was for the camera itself to survive the intense G forces that build up in bringing the mass accelerator up to its 1,000-mile speed. To do so means that SpinLaunch will continue to be able to document launches onboard the payloads, as they become larger and heavier, and do it without destroying the cameras themselves.
The survivability of the cameras, which will soon become more advanced and heavier, also indicates that delicate scientific instruments meant for low earth orbit will also be able to withstand the stress of launch without breaking.
The SpinLaunch Payload Projectile SpinLaunch Back in April, NASA and SpinLaunch signed an agreement for NASA to fly a payload with the company’s mass accelerator to test its launch characteristics, with the goal being to assess the system for potential future commercial launch opportunities.
SpinLaunch plans to continue pushing the envelope for a centrifuge launch system, adopting a stepped approach of larger payloads and higher speeds, with two launches per month. And the cameras will be on board to document every second.
First customer launches are planned for 2025.
Oh yeah, that’s a winner.
Think how much cheaper it will be to send food, fuel, and water into space.
Neat idea, but wouldn’t it be very hard on delicate components?
A Space Age trebuchet!
Perhaps, but electronics have been hardened to 30k g’s. Yes 30,000g’s.
Optics, probably not so much.
Nice.
It looked a heck of a lot higher than 25K which is not very high.
— First customer launches are planned for 2025 —
I wish I was a natural born comedian because there is something so funny about that line that I just know is riffable
Frank Richards scoffs bring it on!
No wait... I got it...... “First *annoying* customers”...
:D
“A Space Age trebuchet!”
We have come so far. Soon we will able to launch cows.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQ8jGqdE2iw
I considered this 30 years ago, you would try to launch from the top of a mountain.
Although my plan is acually workable (unlike this one)
I designed this as a way to dispose of nuke waste.
5000mph = 7333.333 fps.
The M1A1 firing a sabot round is 3500 mph which is 5133.333 fps.
The Remington 30-06 accelerator fires a .223 at 4000 fps (which I have no idea where that pill went to).
Will 7333.333 fps over come air friction and gravity to make Earth orbit?
Well, the acceleration due to gravity, g = 9.8 m/s2
The radius of the earth, R = 6.4 × 106 m
The escape velocity of the earth, ve = √2 × 9.8 × 6.4 × 106
Therefore, ve = 11.2 × 103 m/s = 11.2 km/s
So escape velocity is around 11,200 m/s. or 36,745 fps
Let’s put Brandon in that thing and launch him.
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