Revolutionary horizontal space launcher proposed by NASA
September 14, 2010
(NASA/Artist concept)
NASA is considering a revolutionary new horizontal rail launcher concept.
An early proposal calls for a wedge-shaped aircraft with scramjets to be launched horizontally on an electrified (magnetic levitation, or maglev) track or gas-powered sled. The aircraft would fly up to Mach 10, using the scramjets and wings to lift it to the upper reaches of the atmosphere, where a small payload canister or capsule similar to a rocket’s second stage would fire off the back of the aircraft and into orbit.
Engineers also contend the system, with its advanced technologies, will benefit the nation’s high-tech industry by perfecting technologies that would make more efficient commuter rail systems, better batteries for cars and trucks, and numerous other spinoffs.
NASA’s Stan Starr, branch chief of the Applied Physics Laboratory at Kennedy, points out that nothing in the design calls for brand-new technology to be developed. However, the system counts on a number of existing technologies to be pushed forward. ”All of these are technology components that have already been developed or studied,” Starr said. “We’re just proposing to mature these technologies to a useful level, well past the level they’ve already been taken.”
For example, electric tracks catapult rollercoaster riders daily at theme parks. But those tracks call for speeds of a relatively modest 60 mph — enough to thrill riders, but not nearly fast enough to launch something into space. The launcher would need to reach at least 10 times that speed over the course of two miles in Starr’s proposal.
The studies and development program could also be used as a basis for a commercial launch program if a company decides to take advantage of the basic research NASA performs along the way. Starr said NASA’s fundamental research has long spurred aerospace industry advancement, a trend that the advanced space launch system could continue.
For now, the team proposed a 10-year plan that would start with launching a drone like those the Air Force uses. More advanced models would follow until they are ready to build one that can launch a small satellite into orbit.
Early designs envision a 2-mile-long track at Kennedy Space Center.
Magnetic levitation (MagLev) system evaluated at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (NASA)
“It would be far better and more efficient to place the mag-lev track at much higher altitude and run it through a vacuum tunnel inside a mountain to eliminate air drag,” Dr. Eric W. Davis, Senior Research Physicist at the Institute for Advanced Studies at Austin, told KurzweilAI.
“Launching from higher altitude equals far less fuel to be carried by the second stage booster that rockets the hypersonic space plane into orbit. You could probably drop 20% to 30% of the fuel requirement.” Davis is co-author of Frontiers of Propulsion Science, published by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
More info: NASA news
Comments (4)
by brent robot
I would like someone to do some computer modeling of various forms of high speed tunnel “mass” accelerators. Also a cost benefit analysis would be nice.
I suspect that very high speed magnetic propulsion may be impractical because the pulse of energy would need to be just a few micro seconds long at mach 5 or higher.
by vviiz4rd
This is why corporations will win the space race. I mulled this design 7 years ago, but decided that eleveator is a better candidate for reaching space.
by LaboriousCretin
They need to get a tunnel boring machine and find a stable spot to dig into the ground. A subterranean bell curve with a shaft leading down to the loading end of the track. I liked the 2-3 mile track with rocket stages after take off, but I also liked the vertical approach to rather than angled. You reduce the G-force with the length of the track and acceleration of payload. Metamaterial skin on the tip for reduction of drag, and atmospheric manipulation tech for forming a bubble in front of the craft to help lift it. It even takes model rocketry to new level’s for those who try. Long gone are the day’s of silver mesh and hydrogen peroxide rocket’s. New rocket technology is better if they use it. Maglev with breakaway tracking seam’s to be best, and rocket stages that are reused or kicked off with mini rail gun like apparatus for small boost’s during flight. You can even use some of the rocket engines own power generation to do such with little modification to existing technology. And new plasma engine technology to do fine tuning when in orbit to reach destinations or orbit parameters. If they use a arrow like design you can put a payload up with a crew area to boot, and the payload can be designed to be reusable or cargo holds that lock into place like train car’s in a way. That gives a fast relaunch time window, or multi launch approach with a loading bay area to get multiple launches in short time frames. If done right it could be a multi trillion dollar industry. Though places like china seem more likely to be able to acquire land and do such a big project. Also if done right you could have subterranean housing for matinance, safety, and launch crews to stay as well as hotels for passengers before launches. Non human or Bio cargo can be done faster with a few more G’s on secondary sites, which could be done as testing sites for refinement of human endeavors.
by ahaveland
It is a very old and sensible idea, but this baby step will just prove what the physics already tells us and not do much else.
Far better to go all out and build something that could launch a useful and crew capable payload.
The best location for a vacuum rail launcher would be the equatorial Andes, Cotopaxi would be ideal if it wasn’t so active, but the problem with high mountains is that they are formed where there is a lot of geological instability through tectonic compression. A slight shear across the tunnel could trash billions of investment in a few seconds.
The Rockies would be the next best thing.
If a suitable site could be found then an west to east vacuum tunnel could be built many kilometers long with a parabolically increasing gradient, but there is still a problem with dealing with the shock of the rush of incoming thin air when the gates are opened just before the craft emerges.
Perhaps the vacuum tunnel could also be opened at the bottom and synchronised so that the two influxes could meet and neutralise each other as the craft reaches the exit after benefitting from the vacuum?
An alternative to a vacuum would be to fill the tunnel with helium to avoid atmospheric shock though most of this expensive stuff would be lost if using rocket and not electromagnetic propulsion.
Another solution would be to make a huge rail gun with staged and calibrated charges to get the craft up to max velocity without exceeding g limits, though there may be some reluctance expressed by potential passengers especially if the ‘barrel’ was rifled for stability…