Short · Space
How does SpinLaunch throw rockets into space?
SpinLaunch spins a projectile inside a vacuum chamber, faster and faster, then lets go. Its full-size design would release at 4,700 mph, and a small rocket would finish the climb to orbit. The catch is the spin: the force grows with the square of the speed, so doubling the speed quadruples it. At full speed the payload feels about 10,000 g. Fighter pilots train for 9.
Opens Spin Launch Lab. Change the same thing yourself.
Transcript
That's not a rocket launch. It's a throw. SpinLaunch spins a projectile inside a vacuum chamber, faster and faster, then lets go. Its full-size design would release at forty-seven hundred miles an hour, and a small rocket would finish the climb to orbit. The catch is the spin. Now speed it up. Double the speed and the force quadruples. At full speed the payload feels ten thousand g. Fighter pilots train for nine. Spin the arm yourself at Explainer Tools dot com.
Learn more
More ways to space
A sling is one of four launch ideas Neal Stephenson talked through on Core Memory. The guide compares all four, and the other three films are here.
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