At the moment, humanity in space affairs completely relies on rocket engines, of which there are many shortcomings. But for many years, scientists and companies around the world have been working on alternative technologies to launch objects into space. And one of the concepts has been tested recently.

SpinLaunch decided to choose a technology that involved accelerating the object to be launched into orbit using a huge centrifuge placed on the ground. And last year, the company completed work on a prototype of such a centrifuge in New Mexico, capable of operating an object at speeds up to 1600 km / h.

SpinLaunch has made eight test flights since October, but we’re interested in the last one, because in this case a camera was attached to the launch object. Watch the video below, be careful because the picture is spinning very fast.

The flight of the object took 82 seconds. An altitude of 7.6 km has been reached. Of course, this is incredibly far from the limits of space, but in this case, it is a prototype for testing the technology as a whole. In addition, the company states that even the current prototype was used for only a small part of its maximum capacity during this launch.

The tests made the company understand that the concept was generally applicable. For example, electronics can withstand high specific loads in a centrifuge.

The full-fledged SpinLaunch L100 accelerator will be three times larger than the current A-33. It will be able to throw objects weighing up to 200 kg at orbital altitudes up to 8000 km/h. But that won’t be enough to launch into orbit, so it’s all about launching small rockets that will start the engines once they reach a certain altitude. But such rockets would need a small amount of fuel to bring the payload into orbit.

NASA has already signed a contract with SpinLaunch, which means management finds the technology promising. It is known that the construction of the first full-fledged accelerator will take a few more years, and the company plans to begin commercial launches in 2025. Source