Slung into orbit.

[West Coast]

Well, kinda.

Interesting and conceptually simple. Details however are likely a bitch.

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/43079/space-launch-start-up-just-used-a-giant-centrifuge-to-hurl-a-projectile-into-the-upper-atmosphere?fbclid=IwAR1McDmL7nhtrVjrwrO5xWuL5bAFUFwFXnRnJe7h nBphCfM24mI6uEJgXZY

[Ninthace]

No military content. Perhaps you would like to add your post to https://www.pprune.org/space-flight-operations/643666-spinlaunch.html ?

[etudiant]

No military content. Perhaps you would like to add your post to https://www.pprune.org/space-flight-operations/643666-spinlaunch.html ?

Something that can throw 10 foot projectiles at several thousand mph surely gets strong interest from the military.
It would be surprising if the funding did not have some government component, even if this demonstrator was purely civil oriented..

[West Coast]

No military content. Perhaps you would like to add your post to https://www.pprune.org/space-flight-operations/643666-spinlaunch.html ?

Sorry didn’t know there was a thread already. That said, it mentions in the header to the article the Pentagon is interested, so there is relevance to it being here.

[NutLoose]

Spinlaunch have now successfully lobbed a camera in its latest test

On Friday, April 22nd, we conducted Flight Test #8 where the engineering team tested our first optical camera payload in our Suborbital Accelerator. Check out this exclusive onboard footage that shows the perspective of the 3-meter flight test vehicle being launched into the atmosphere at more than a thousand miles per hour. Flying with the digital camera system onboard marks an important step towards integrating complex payloads into SpinLaunch flight test vehicles. Comprised of the key components needed for the Orbital Launch System, the Suborbital Accelerator is a critical steppingstone in SpinLaunch's path to orbit and providing customers with low-cost, sustainable access to space.

In its new video, SpinLaunch shows off the launch of one of a series of recent test launches, its first optical payload. The test vehicle, which measures 3 meters long (9.8 ft), was launched on April 22 at a speed of over 1,000 mph. SpinLaunch didn't release any altitude data for this launch, though its previous test launch reached an altitude of roughly 30,000 feet, meaning it still has some way to go to reach space.



https://youtu.be/qEVD9k2GLXk

[Sue Vêtements]

I see why they call it SPINlaunch!

[Widger]

Interesting. I only did A-level physics but surely to reach orbit would require a very high velocity at the start, to overcome friction, which would itself increase the atmospheric pressure on whatever body is lobbed. You will not that during many conventional space launches, they throttle up at particular stages to overcome this issue.

[beardy]

Interesting. I only did A-level physics but surely to reach orbit would require a very high velocity at the start, to overcome friction, which would itself increase the atmospheric pressure on whatever body is lobbed. You will not that during many conventional space launches, they throttle up at particular stages to overcome this issue.

If you read more about it they don't intend to launch directly into orbit. They do intend to provide an initial velocity to a rocket saving fuel and giving a greater payload for vehicle weight.

[NutLoose]

This is test version and it is a low powered at the moment, it is a sub orbital one, it only fires them out at 1000 MPH, later they are looking at 4600 MPH for it. the full size item will fire them at 5000 MPH and they will use 70% less fuel than a conventional rocket system

https://www.spinlaunch.com/

https://techcrunch.com/2022/04/06/spinlaunch-scores-nasa-test-mission-to-demonstrate-its-unique-launch-method/

[Jhieminga]

It is an interesting concept but it certainly needs a bit of work put into it before it starts getting useful. On that test you can see a lot of instability in the first part of the flight. Probably due to the huge shift in forces at release. It gets better once the payload stabilizes later on but getting that transient right will be a major challenge.

[jimjim1]

Here is quite a nice video with more details.

The tension in the production launch arm,
47m radius,
40 rpm
will be 20 giga newtons.
or 2 million tons weight

The 10 ton launch vehicle will be subjected to 10,000G when it is spinning around.

Something not discussed in any detail is how they re-balance the launch arm after release.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAczd3mt3X0

[uxb99]

Didn't Arthur C Clark have the idea of a space lift?

[SASless]

Any Volunteers for the first Manned Test Flight?
:uhoh:

[Ninthace]

Any Volunteers for the first Manned Test Flight?
:uhoh:
No, I get giddy on fairground rides.

[HOVIS]

Didn't Arthur C Clark have the idea of a space lift?
He did indeed. Concept is great but we don't yet have the materials to build it.

[NutLoose]

Here is quite a nice video with more details.

The tension in the production launch arm,
47m radius,
40 rpm
will be 20 giga newtons.
or 2 million tons weight

The 10 ton launch vehicle will be subjected to 10,000G when it is spinning around.

Something not discussed in any detail is how they re-balance the launch arm after release.



Looking at this film the arm looks like it could move along the slot possibly rebalancing it that way. Or the launcher section could retract?

https://youtu.be/TGO4LtCctTk

[SASless]

We already have Truck Wheel self balancers.....why would this concept not work?

https://www.centramatic.com/wheel-balance.rhtml?type=Light-Duty&utm_source=mv&utm_medium=paid&utm_campaign=intent&gclid=9e65169fd33a1aba082874e42842a632&gclsrc=3p.ds

[Darren_P]

Some good critical coverage here;

https://youtu.be/9ziGI0i9VbE

https://youtu.be/ibSJ_yy96iE

[gums]

Salute!

I can recall in a hazy web of omy ancient memory a few nights at the Korat O-club and attempting to navigate to my hootch when I did not need a giant centrifuge qizmo to reach orbit!

As long as I could hold on to a single blade of grass, I would not fall off the face of the Earth. Whew.

Gums recalls...

[cavuman1]

Read you fife by, gums! More than once, my life was saved (narrowly) by a single strand of shag carpeting, the color of which was an exact match to the palette of my stomach contents.

- Ed