Video of SpinLaunch founders trying to pitch Hawaii residents: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSSBARd5HhE
SpinLaunch is building a centrifuge to launch satellites into orbit
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Re: SpinLaunch is building a centrifuge to launch satellites into orbit
#12“The reason it's hard to get to orbit isn't that space is high up. It's hard to get to orbit because you have to go so fast .” https://what-if.xkcd.com/58/ Sounds like this solves the easy part (getting to high altitude), but makes the hard part (getting to orbital velocity) even harder.
I'm still scratching my head thinking of how much force will be crushing the rocket and satellite for an hour. I know space stuff needs to be super durable, but surely the G's it'll experience over an hour will be more grueling than a traditional rocket, no?
> "At this point the spacecraft will be subjected to a peak force 10,000 times greater than Earth's gravity, something opponents believe will seriously affect its structural integrity and the safety of its complex electronics."
Centrifugal projectile weapons scale up poorly and have issues even at BB gun scale. Envisioning what happens with a 200lb projectile; leave aside the laughable velocities they're talking, and I want to be well distanced from these people when they power shit up.
I think this is a device for separating investors from money.
Re: SpinLaunch is building a centrifuge to launch satellites into orbit
#13Put this on the moon and we are talking. I'm not sure I see this being too useful otherwise, considering how much extra fairing mass those gforces are going to require
Re: SpinLaunch is building a centrifuge to launch satellites into orbit
#14The Lofstrom Launch Loop[0] is less fanciful than a 5000 mph centrifuge slinging payloads into LEO.
Re: SpinLaunch is building a centrifuge to launch satellites into orbit
#15Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm still scratching my head thinking of how much force will be crushing the rocket and satellite for an hour. I know space stuff needs to be super durable, but surely the G's it'll experience over an hour will be more grueling than a traditional rocket, no?
> "At this point the spacecraft will be subjected to a peak force 10,000 times greater than Earth's gravity, something opponents believe will seriously affect its structural integrity and the safety of its complex electronics." Centrifugal projectile weapons scale up poorly and have issues even at BB gun scale. Envisioning what happens with a 200lb projectile; leave aside the laughable velocities they're talking, and…
I just assumed they fully expect to pivot into the defense industry.
Re: SpinLaunch is building a centrifuge to launch satellites into orbit
#16I hope it works because it'd be rad, but at $500K per 200-lb payload, they'll cost $2500/lb. That's only half as much as SpaceX Rideshare for the same size payload, today. If Starship works out, then SpaceX costs will drop enormously. Fuel is a minor portion of launch cost. SpinLaunch is saving fuel but throwing away rockets; it's going to be hard to compete with someone who throws away more fuel but saves the rocket…
Wut? Their goal is to allow the rocket to ignite at 200k ft. Thats only a bit lower than the altitude SpaceX ignites its second stage, which is not reusable
"If Starship works out," I said. Starship reuses the second stage.
Re: SpinLaunch is building a centrifuge to launch satellites into orbit
#17“The reason it's hard to get to orbit isn't that space is high up. It's hard to get to orbit because you have to go so fast .” https://what-if.xkcd.com/58/ Sounds like this solves the easy part (getting to high altitude), but makes the hard part (getting to orbital velocity) even harder.
I think you're imagining that the rocket is fired directly vertically and peaks at some altitude, when the rocket ignite to "make it go fast". Instead, imagine the flings the rocket at a 45 degree angle so when it peaks in altitude it's already going quite fast. As other commentators in this thread point out, it's really an alternative for the primary stage rocket booster part, which doesn't just shoot a rocket straight up vertically.
Re: SpinLaunch is building a centrifuge to launch satellites into orbit
#181. Build a large superconducting flywheel energy storage system like they have in Japan, right under the launch centrifuge.
2. Use it continually to arbitrage energy prices. Buy low sell high.
3. At launch time divert the rotational energy to the centrifuge. (I'd like to see that clutch.)
4. Profit
Re: SpinLaunch is building a centrifuge to launch satellites into orbit
#19Earlier quoted context omitted.
Oh wow, I was wondering why bother building housing around it. That seems incredibly expensive to build and maintain. Your comment is very on point. If they slowly even out the atmosphere, they loose the speed. So they'll need to coordinate the door opening at exactly the right moment. And if it doesn't the whole instillation goes boom. I feel like it would be better just to use the money to buy more rocket fuel at t…
> And if it doesn't the whole instillation goes boom. The projectile is going to go boom when it hits the thick lower atmosphere going many times the speed of sound when it exits the vacuum chamber regardless.
Reaching max q at T+0.0001 seconds while 1 inch away from the launch site's massive expensive centrifuge. It's a bold strategy, Cotton.
Re: SpinLaunch is building a centrifuge to launch satellites into orbit
#20The Lofstrom Launch Loop[0] is less fanciful than a 5000 mph centrifuge slinging payloads into LEO. 0: http://launchloop.com/
How is this less fanciful?