Re:NASA will test SpinLaunch's ability to fling satellites i...
by nradov on Thursday April 14, 2022 @11:39PM
(#31036422)
Submerging the gun barrel in the ocean presents huge engineering and maintenance challenges. It's not impossible but building anything underwater is extremely expensive. And then you have to deal with currents, corrosion, storms, leaks. People who aren't experienced in marine engineering tend to drastically underestimate the costs.
[ Parent
| on HN ]
Re:NASA will test SpinLaunch's ability to fling satellites i...
by jhgb on Friday April 15, 2022 @03:13PM
(#31044464)
One thing I was thinking about some time ago was that if you wanted such infrastructure while still being able to adjust azimuth and elevation, perhaps an artificial lake would work? At the very least you avoid salt water this way. Of course at that point you can't pick and choose your launch site after the fact, but that's not a regression compared to stationary launch pads anyway.