Now the only way to put a satellite-like load into orbit is with a missile, and the chemical reactions on these missiles need to be controlled even in orbit. But a private space technology company, SpinLaunch, founded in 2014, has a very different approach to using electricity, with the main goal of reducing the cost of launching satellites.
Actually, it’s not the only idea because SpaceX, founded in 2002, has already done it with reusable rocket technology. They also have the target of colonizing Mars. But SpinLaunch’s way of doing it is different from SpaceX’s because they use electricity.
In the New Mexico Desert, there’s now a 1,000-ton round steel vacuum chamber with a torpedo-like device fitted next door. It’s higher than the Statue of Liberty, and it’s just an underground launch system. The launch base is expected to be three times the size of the orbit.
A long time ago, in the 1960s, there was the HARP Project – a collaborative program between the United States and Canada. HARP consists of a large gun located near the coast in Barbados. It weighs 200 tons, has a diameter of 41 centimeters, is almost 48 meters long and can launch a load of 84 kilograms to 180 kilometers into the sky. This project one is exploring how to put a load into orbit is easy, cheap and reliable.
Its mechanisms are simple. First, air is sucked out of the kernel before launch, reducing the impediment and increasing the launch speed. Next, the bullets are fitted with small missiles, only firing after they hit the upper atmosphere. Although the HARP Project was closed after a few years, it inspired SpinLaunch.
Like HARP, SpinLaunch uses a dedicated device to accelerate loads to extreme levels while still at sea level, using advanced centrifuges that operate in vacuum conditions. A carbon fiber cord holds the load block tightly and rotates it with an electric motor, until it reaches a supersonic speed (about 27,358 km/h) and carries the load into the launch pipe.
A pair of doors will open and close in succession to push the load through the pipe, in order to maintain the vacuum environment in the rotating chamber. As the air flows in, the load is suddenly subjected to a large air impediment. The speed and mass of the load would be enough to launch it from the sea level to the upper atmosphere.
This load is almost a ballistic shell. When it reaches a sufficiently high height, the shell separates and falls to Earth for recovery and reuse. Inside the shell, there are fuel-powered rockets and some satellites, and once in the upper atmosphere, it’s powerful enough to put a satellite into Earth’s orbit.
This unique and sophisticated launch cabin is a very cost-effective way to put satellites in orbit. Not to mention that it saves even rocket fuel thanks to the powered system, which is very expensive and requires extremely cold temperatures when used. In fact, the weight increases when you have to lift this fuel from the ground by burning more fuel.
There’s a renewable brake that powered the carbon cord to recover energy after launching the satellite. The company plans to reach a capacity of 5 to 10 launches a day at $250,000 a time thanks to many such launchers. This is very cheap compared to the cost of launching a spacecraft into low Earth orbit of $54,500/kg and Falcon 9 is also $2,720/kg. While here it’s only $1,250/kg (250 thousand dollars and launched 200 kilograms). It still has the disadvantage that the launch force is so large that it can’t be used to put humans in orbit.
