A startup company called SpinLaunch, based in California, USA, has developed a high-speed spinning machine, dubbed by experts as a space “catapult”which can launch payload from the POT to orbit.
This machine is similar to a gigantic astronomical gun and is capable of launching small satellites into near-Earth space.
According to a public report on the website of D.W.the space catapult has made its tenth successful test launch in less than a year.
The goal of SpinLaunch and its innovative technology is reduce the costs and fuel required for traditional rocket launches, using his new machine that works with Kinetic energy.
This is how the catapult works
With the suborbital acceleration system, the company launched on September 27 at the Spaceport America complex, located in New Mexico, a payload from the US space agency, Airbus, Cornell University and Outpost.
Then send to long heaven, they recovered it and inspected its contents to see how it behaved after spinning on its suborbital accelerator at speeds of up to 10,000 g and 8,000 km/h.
The scientists needed to test whether the sensitive equipment on board could survive the intense G-force of the suborbital accelerator. In this regard, SpinLaunch said: “All tested payloads were successfully flown and recovered”.
The NASA payload, which was designed to capture critical flight data, featured a gyroscope, a magnetometer, two accelerometers, and temperature and humidity sensors.
The United States agency signed an agreement with this company at the beginning of 2022 to develop and test the payload launch, under the framework of NASA’s Flight Opportunities Program, which offers private companies the opportunity to collaborate to test new technologies that the space agency could use on future missions.