Re:The Launch Landscape: Small Rockets
by ivorbach on Monday June 28, 2021 @04:47PM
(#27667882)
I agree, it's hard to imagine a payload that could withstand the g-forces required to reach space through a centrifuge launch. I think what interests investors is that in the low likelihood they succeed, they could create an order-of-magnitude reduction in launch costs. Some investors seem to have decided that was worth the bet
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This is like saying that in the low likelihood that someone succeeds in jumping across the Atlantic ocean in a single leap, they will bring about a revolution in distance jumping. But while I don't think we've seen the limits of human performance in athletics yet, jumping oceans is not happening soon. Neither is centrifuging space payloads into orbit, because the engineering problems are simply too many magnitudes beyond what modern materials can handle.
If I were generous, investors in this company are taking a bet on the team and hoping that an eventual pivot pays off. If I wanted to not be generous there is probably some joke about Theranos, uBeam and FOMO in there.