The space agency recently announced a partnership with the business SpinLaunch, whose distinctive spinning mechanism they claim might help reduce the cost and environmental impact of small satellite launches.
Coming Together
The two organizations may conduct test flights later this year as a result of the collaboration, which is a component of NASA’s Flight Opportunities Program, which was established more than ten years ago to uncover cutting-edge new space technology.
Getting Technical
A rocket payload is attached to one end of a massive rotating arm that is propelled by electric motors in order to launch it into space after reaching high speeds. According to the scientists, the system will be far more economical and environmentally benign than current rocket booster-based launch systems because it does not necessitate using a lot of fuel to propel the rockets into the sky.
The A33 Magnetic Orbital Accelerator, a scaled-down prototype of the device, was successfully tested by the SpinLaunch team in October 2017 at Spaceport America in New Mexico. Even though they were only operating at 20% of their maximum power, they were nevertheless able to send a rocket payload thousands of meters into the air.