One thing that wasn't answered was orbit targetting. Does structure need to rotate in north south arc to support different orbits or does LV go straight up then redirect its self downrange using control surfaces. The later makes structure design lot simpler.
Quote from: TrevorMonty on 08/06/2022 10:54 pmOne thing that wasn't answered was orbit targetting. Does structure need to rotate in north south arc to support different orbits or does LV go straight up then redirect its self downrange using control surfaces. The later makes structure design lot simpler.I've been arguing this over on Ars recently, and much to my chagrin the consensus there is "Making large complex structures rotate is quite simple, so they just need to rotate the entire vacuum chamber (including exit aperture) around the centrifuge arm; this can easily be done while the chamber remains in its vacuum state. Or if they want to make things really optimal, the entire vacuum chamber+centrifuge motors will rotate around the gravity axis; in this latter case, they don't actually build on a hill, since the sloped part is also rotating."
Wild, man. SpinLaunch announced today that it has closed a $71 million Series B funding round. The company says it is on target to place satellites into orbit by 2026.
Glad to hear!I wouldn’t invest a red cent… except as entertainment value and just exploring a new part of the trade space that has been entirely conceptual for too long (and therefore the IP that can be generated from this could end up just as valuable, or more, than the launch service itself). This is going to be fun to watch!
Quote from: Robotbeat on 09/20/2022 06:40 pmGlad to hear!I wouldn’t invest a red cent… except as entertainment value and just exploring a new part of the trade space that has been entirely conceptual for too long (and therefore the IP that can be generated from this could end up just as valuable, or more, than the launch service itself). This is going to be fun to watch!Probably best for suborbital and military experiments IMPO for a long while. Would replace the majority retired military motors currently used.
Quote from: russianhalo117 on 10/04/2022 04:42 amQuote from: Robotbeat on 09/20/2022 06:40 pmGlad to hear!I wouldn’t invest a red cent… except as entertainment value and just exploring a new part of the trade space that has been entirely conceptual for too long (and therefore the IP that can be generated from this could end up just as valuable, or more, than the launch service itself). This is going to be fun to watch!Probably best for suborbital and military experiments IMPO for a long while. Would replace the majority retired military motors currently used.The Military want's this as a weapon.
Rampant speculation ahead.I think there's plenty of potential for using SpinLaunch's tech as electrically powered long-range artillery; sort of a simpler, cheaper, quicker to develop railgun. Pair it with guided artillery shells and it becomes potentially interesting, if your willing to spend the money. The Navy would be the obvious choice, but I think it's probably a bit too high risk for them. If the spinning arm snaps on land, it's bad, but it's probably only the launcher that's destroyed. If that happens on a ship, you likely sink the ship. Then again, it may not be any more of a risk than having a bunch of explosive on board. You'd have to do a risk assessment.The Army had a program for a 1000 mi gun that was cancelled just earlier this year, back in May. Whether that was due to the traditional gun design having problems, or because they just didn't care about the capability that much, isn't clear to me. If it was the former, maybe they'd be interested in using this as a weapon system in the longer term. Personally, I don't see how you could follow the events in the Ukraine war and not be dumping as much money into long range, precision artillery as possible. Think about everything that's been hit with HIMARS. Now imagine that those attacks could be made on a cheaper per shot basis, from Warsaw. So I predict a lot of DoD investment in technologies like this, and in more standard missiles/guided-rocket artillery, in the aftermath of the Ukraine War.