[TexasKamaAina]

Slingshots vs rockets

[blackdog]

As long as your satellite isn’t fragile, which all satellites are.

[MeanWestTexan]

Just wait until the muzzies get ahold of this tech.

[Magnum44]

PULL!!!

No...wait....

[ComputerGuy]

Would make for a great ride at the State Fair.

[Resolute Conservative]

Did Wile E. Coyote open an Acme catalog again?

[Gaffer]

ha.... a takeoff on Heilein’s “Moon is a Harsh Mistress” where ore rocks from the moon were EM sled-launched to earth to splash down in shallow ocean areas...

As far as the catapult concept goes, an EM rail-launcher makes more sense.

[catnipman]

"Giant catapult defies gravity by launching satellites into orbit without the need of rocket fuel"

wow, who knew:

[Gay State Conservative]

Wasn’t there a Three Stooges episode featuring such a contraption?

[wbarmy]

It actually is very workable because the acceleration is gradual. The arm slowly oges faster and faster, reducing G forces on the object to be launched. Once the arm is rotating at launch speed, then the object is let go.

[sphinx]

I haven’t dug through the links or the company’s website, but I don’t see anything about payloads, altitudes, velocities and flight duration achieved to date. They do have nice CGI videos there.

Do they have private funding or are they shaking the tree for grant money?

[PeterPrinciple]

The company plans to launch constellations of satellites into orbits below 600 miles by 2026.

---

Anyone want to invest their hard earned money in this?

[PeterPrinciple]

The environmental impact of traditional rocket launches has come under increasing scrutiny. Each launch contributes to the depletion of the ozone layer, which protects life on Earth from the sun’s harmful radiation. SpinLaunch’s method offers a potential solution, as it can breach the ozone layer without damaging it.

---

it can breach the ozone layer without damaging it.

[Getready]

I remember a plan to use a huge airplane to ferry a rocket to high altitude and let it go into space from there....
A lot like the x15....or the x1 in terms of release from the mother ship.

[PeterPrinciple]

A video from one of SpinLaunch’s test launches in New Mexico shows the excitement and precision involved. Engineers monitor screens, and the launch scene resembles that of a NASA mission control room. When the satellite exits the launch barrel, it happens so quickly that it’s easy to miss if you blink.

---

not a real test launch but an imaginary one.

[lurk]

I’m no physicist, but this concept seems to be lacking some basic calculations.

[Stosh]

Call it the “Pinochet Trebuchet” and start rounding up some Commies (Soros would be a good start).

[Z28.310]

Traitor-a-pult

Saves money on fuel compared to the Pinochet helicopter rides

[citizen]

Won’t the atmoshperic friction from traveling 17,500 mph, or faster, burn up the payload going up, they same as it does coming down?

[Dr. Sivana]

And when it’s not be used to launch satellites, it could be a killer amusement park ride, right between the Thunderbolt and the Round-Up.

[Worldtraveler once upon a time]

--- "significant funding and has collaborated with major organizations like NASA, Airbus, and Cornell University...."

Translation: "Looking for venture capital now." Cornell and Airbus are tapped pit, and NASA's DEI will require those guys beocme gals in 1, 2,3....