SpinLaunch just catapulted a NASA payload into the sky for the first time(interestingengineering.com)
interestingengineering.com
SpinLaunch just catapulted a NASA payload into the sky for the first time
https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/spinlaunch-catapulted-a-nasa-payload
10 comments
Looks very interesting but I see one obvious issue that may or may not be significant --- any satellite to be launched will have to be built to withstand the 10000g launch.
Forget satellites: launch water, rocket fuel, 3D printing material!
Relativity Space is building 3D printers large enough to construct orbital-class rockets in one piece. Others will follow. If they can make printers work in vacuum at 0g, that's how we build our next-next generation of space stations. SpinLaunch wants to launch around the clock, multiple times per day. Just keep flinging materials and consumables to the construction robots building our future habs.
Relativity Space is building 3D printers large enough to construct orbital-class rockets in one piece. Others will follow. If they can make printers work in vacuum at 0g, that's how we build our next-next generation of space stations. SpinLaunch wants to launch around the clock, multiple times per day. Just keep flinging materials and consumables to the construction robots building our future habs.
True - just to be over-precise; as I read it the launch (release) per se isn't 10000g, nor the acceleration (so to speak) to velocity inside the device, but the centrifugal force inside the device gets to 10000g. There are guided artillery shells whose electronics survives much greater force (although it's a tough, expensive way to go.) For an integrated circuit or solar panel designed for it, 10000g may not be that much, however. Not much compared to an artillery launch, at least.
We've been launching electronic devices by artillery since WWII - those with proximity fuses - without transistors!
We've been launching electronic devices by artillery since WWII - those with proximity fuses - without transistors!
Centrifugal or linear, 10000g is still a substantial force that any satellite must be designed to withstand.
And for electronics this is expensive, as I alluded to earlier. The guided artillery shells used in Ukraine now are actually more expensive than individual HiMars rockets.
What portion of escape velocity is imparted by the spinning ground launch? I assume it's more of a jumpstart and still requires a rocket?
Maybe about 1.7km/s at 75km apogee [0] for a low earth orbit of around 7-8km/s at 200km.
Then a regular(ish) rocket housed inside the centrifuge launch vehicle would separate and make up the rest.
0: https://twitter.com/DJSnM/status/1458467841779253253
Then a regular(ish) rocket housed inside the centrifuge launch vehicle would separate and make up the rest.
0: https://twitter.com/DJSnM/status/1458467841779253253
Check out this Real Engineering video. Goes it a lot of engineering details.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrc632oilWo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrc632oilWo
This device is not capable of putting anything into orbit. Orbits require velocity tangent to a sphere around the parent body (approximately). This device imparts velocity at very nearly a right angle to that.
The article does say that they use a small rocket for final orbital insertion. Payloads can still absolutely be put into orbit using spinlaunch, with a small amount of extra rocket assistance