Catapulting satellites to space!

A California Based company: Spin launch. Claims to design an orbital accelerator that’s able to launch satellites for a fraction of the cost that regular rockets take.

How it works?

The Accelerators sleek design is essentially a g force trainer standing vertically. Essentially, how it works is the satellite (Object being launched) is accelerated and a mechanism lets go of the object when a certain velocity is achieved, then the satellite is launched through the hole with a degree of accuracy. Finally, once the satellite reaches a certain altitude it can take advantage of the atmospheric conditions and use fuel to propel itself out of the atmosphere.

Based on the design concept this accelerator could yield many benefits, such as:

• Increased launch frequency

• Less resources wasted.

• Cost reduction

Despite these claims, Spin launch has still got some work to do if they want to see this be a reality. Because there seems to be some lateral movement in the first launch done by them, as annotated in the diagram. This could be a very large issue and plus the fact that the satellite/object has to be launched with a degree of accuracy. Because in the case of an incident the object would destroy the station, in comparison to a failed rocket launch where the station is not damaged. Replacing the launch facilities would usually take longer and more expensive. Thus, bringing us to the conclusion whether the “Spin Launch” concept is feasible. We’ll, one think is for certain: only time will tell.

Work cited:

Spinlaunch suborbital accelerator - first launch (2021) YouTube. Available at: https://youtu.be/Z6esOcWrrEE?si=ZswaljS5pNLQiYou (Accessed: 02 March 2024).

Thesheetztweetz (2021) Alternative rocket builder spinlaunch completes First Test Flight, CNBC. Available at: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/09/spinlaunch-completes-first-test-flight-of-alternative-rocket.html (Accessed: 02 March 2024).