Space Sling

A launching device for the otherwise unpowered transport of payloads from the surface of the earth into an orbit is called a space thrower . Since no fuel has to be carried, one promises a cost advantage over conventional rocket technology .

history

While Jules Verne wanted to generate the necessary acceleration with gun cotton in his novel " From the Earth to the Moon " , today it is assumed that the first cosmic speed necessary for an orbit can only be achieved with an electromagnetic mechanism . So far, prototypes have only been built for small test bodies.

technology

Rail accelerator

The transport capsule is accelerated along a rail system (see also Railgun ). A strong electric current flows through the transport capsule in a magnetic field. The Lorentz force acting here is used for the acceleration.

With a prototype from the Franco-German research institute ISL in Saint-Louis , the impressive speed of 7500 km / h was achieved with test bodies weighing one and two kilograms.

Mass driver

The mass driver concept also suggests a rail system, but here the payload is to be accelerated on a slide with a linear motor . Here, the g-forces of the payload could be well controlled so that more sensitive things could be transported.

See also

• High Altitude Research Project ; Payloads were shot into a suborbital orbit with cannons .
• Project Babylon by Gerald Bull ; Payloads were supposed to be fired into earth orbit with a cannon.
• SpinLaunch , a proposed two-stage orbital launch system consisting of a centrifuge catapult and a rocket projectile.

Web links

• With a sling into space - "Railgun" is supposed to throw research projectiles up at low cost on www.deutschlandfunk.de
• Ian R. McNab: Launch to Space With an Electromagnetic Railgun , in: IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, Volume 39, No. 1, January 2003, pp. 295ff (PDF)