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> The company plans on building a larger version of the accelerator, which is capable of launching a payload in excess of 440 pounds (200 kg) and at speeds of o
by blendergeek 4y ago
> The company plans on building a larger version of the accelerator, which is capable of launching a payload in excess of 440 pounds (200 kg) and at speeds of over 5,000 miles an hour, plenty of speed to reach low earth orbit.
5000 mph is actually not orbital speed which is approximately 18000 mph.
So will the scaled up version spin a "second stage" fully fueled to launch it?
- MBCook 4y agoYes. I believe the idea is to get the rocket up to where the atmosphere is extremely thin so you don’t need much fuel to complete the journey. The hard part of the initial acceleration through the thick atmosphere which burns most of the fuel is bypassed.
- IshKebab 4y agoBut on the other hand you add a lot of mass to deal with the air heating and increased structural loads. Will be interesting to see if it ends up being worth it. I'm mostly curious how they deal with the sudden change in load on the spinner.