http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Babylon http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Babylon Iraq (with a Canadian scientist) almost made an artillery piece capab

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Babylon http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Babylon Iraq (with a Canadian scientist) almost made an artillery piece capable of putting material into orbit. Obviously, international sanctions gummed up the project a tad and it was basically over when the scientist was assassinated. Still, it was within the realm of possibility. Only recently have rail-guns started to usurp chemically propelled artillery in some roles, so it's not out of the question that rail-guns could put material into orbit. Even if the associated forces are too extreme for most equipment to survive, it could provide a way of getting raw materials into orbit at the very least.