NASA will test SpinLaunch's ability to fling satellites into orbit

Re:NASA will test SpinLaunch's ability to fling satellites i... by kurthr on Thursday April 14, 2022 @07:20PM (#31034732)

Building and SpinLaunching at above 10k feet (3km) seems like a no-brainer. It reduces heating and weight while increasing terminal altitude substantially... like 2x.

It would be more efficient, if they could use a whip effect to (match impedance) capture much more of the rotational energy they put into the spin, more like a trebuchet.

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Re:NASA will test SpinLaunch's ability to fling satellites i... by sacrosancty on Friday April 15, 2022 @02:44AM (#31037224)

Is optimizing efficiency relevant at all? I'd think the electrical power cost must be negligible compared to the rest of the cost of a launch.

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Re:NASA will test SpinLaunch's ability to fling satellites i... by edrxty on Friday April 15, 2022 @02:57AM (#31037279)

It's not the electrical cost so much as system complexity. They could use less heat shield, more payload, spin the payload less hard, etc.

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Re:NASA will test SpinLaunch's ability to fling satellites i... by Schroedingersat on Friday April 15, 2022 @08:44AM (#31039558)

Is there any material strong enough to provide the whip? Or would you just make the spinning part slower?

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