Most launch companies today use vertically launched rockets that rely on tons of fuel and massive rocket engines to blast a rocket to outer space right from the ground.
SpinLaunch has a completely different approach. It plans to put a small rocket into a massive centrifuge that will whip it around to drum up most of the speed it will need to get to orbit. Then, the rocket would fly out of the centrifuge, gain thousands of feet in altitude and light up a small engine to continue its journey to drop a satellite off in space.
SpinLaunch says that this method could use just one quarter of the fuel that vertically launched rockets require, and it could be ten times cheaper. The company said the first test launch, conducted last year, “validated” key parts of the company’s technology.
A lot, however, remains to be seen. SpinLaunch is still using a scaled-down centrifuge as it works to better understand the mechanics and fine tune the system. The test system, which stands at about 165 feet tall and is perched near a private spaceport in rural New Mexico, is about a third the size of the planned orbital launch system, according to the company. It can spin a vehicle up to 5,000 miles per hour, or just over six times the speed of sound. And payloads would have to be able to withstand the extreme G-forces inherent to being spun that fast.
SpinLaunch says that its engineers have been evaluating the ability of various hardware and components to withstand up to 10,000 Gs — or 10,000 times the force of Earth’s gravity.