Can we use a railgun to launch spacecraft?

Rev Up The Rail Gun A 240,000-horsepower linear motor converts 180 megawatts into an electromagnetic force that propels a scramjet carrying a spacecraft down a two-mile-long track. The craft accelerates from 0 to 1,100 mph (Mach 1.5) in under 60 seconds— fast, but at less than 3 Gs, safe for manned flight.

Can a satellite be launched from a gun?

Space guns could thus potentially provide a method of non-rocket spacelaunch. However, a space gun has never been successfully used to launch an object into orbit or out of Earth’s gravitational pull.

How fast can a railgun shoot in space?

Railguns can acheive a muzzle velocity of a projectile on the order of 7.5 km/s. The Earth’s escape velocity is 11.2 km/s. It seems to me that a railgun style launch device built into a deep shaft such as an abandoned mine could reasonably launch a vehicle into space.

Can a rail gun shoot the moon?

Then it’s shooting for the moon. These weapons don’t play. Powered by just electricity with no chemicals required, railguns can fire projectiles incredible distances at even more incredible velocities. That means the escape velocity from the moon will be 5,300 mph.

Can a railgun reach orbit?

CONCLUSIONS. Yes it is possible, the tech is here, it is economic and feasible to launch anything from cargo to people. It has not gotten a lot of attention because all the big boys use rockets already, and noone has proposed a railgun that can launch more than cargo.

Do Coilguns recoil?

Therefore, for a coilgun of equivalent power to a railgun, the coilgun’s recoil will hurt more since it is at some points low and at others high… And uneven recoil hurts a lot more than steady smooth force.

Can you shoot a projectile into space?

Fires can’t burn in the oxygen-free vacuum of space, but guns can shoot. Modern ammunition contains its own oxidizer, a chemical that will trigger the explosion of gunpowder, and thus the firing of a bullet, wherever you are in the universe. No atmospheric oxygen required.

Could rail guns be used to launch objects into space?

The idea for using rail guns to launch objects to space has been around for years – even Isaac Newton considered the concept.

How much does it cost to launch a railgun?

The electric costs of a railgun launch drops to about 3 $ /kg, which means all the money from the launch goes to maintenance and capital costs and once the gun is paid down prices can drop dramatically. It is the only way that humanity has the tech for that can launch large quantities of object and in the end it is all about mass launched.

Would a rial gun work in space?

It wouldn’t work in orbit. Contrary to popular belief (brought on by video games and movies), rail guns do have recoil. In space, the rialgun and projectile would be propelled in opposite directions, so a lot of energy would be wasted, and you would then have to retrieve the launcher.

Is it possible to get a railgun with 1000 Amps?

Yes, that might do it. Really, the only way to get that high of a current is with some type of capacitor bank that can be discharged very quickly. But wait! If I have 1000 amps in the rails, won’t the rails also push on each other? Yes. Like I said, I’m not going to build a demonstration version of a railgun. Build your own railgun.