4 ms·
SpinLaunch isn’t trying to throw payloads directly into orbit, just replace the first stage of a conventional 2-stage launcher. Their target exit velocity is ~2
by pieix 5y ago
SpinLaunch isn’t trying to throw payloads directly into orbit, just replace the first stage of a conventional 2-stage launcher. Their target exit velocity is ~2km/s which is equivalent to the staging velocity on a Falcon 9. They’ve released renderings of a liquid-fueled upper stage but have been light on details thus far.
- NobodyNada 5y agoThanks for confirming, that makes sense (it still sounds hard, but not impossible). The article contradicts this -- but it seems likely that the article is simply wrong in that regard.
- pieix 5y ago>However, the rocket component is not a necessity for putting an object into orbit, the company explains on its website: “Because kinetically launched satellites exit the atmosphere without a rocket, SpinLaunch enables a future in which constellations of satellites and space payloads can be launched with zero emissions in the most critical layers of the atmosphere.” Agreed that this seems like a misinterpretation by the article’s author. A suborbital trajectory with 2km/s dv can certainly leave the atmosphere before the upper stage starts burning which I think is what SpinLaunch is referring to here. Depending on how you cut it the stated 200,000ft / 60km ignition altitude quoted in the article can already be considered “above the atmosphere.”