https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3255351/nasas-dream-comes-true-china-plans-build-giant-rail-gun-launch-hypersonic-planes-space
While SpaceX’s reusable rockets have slashed satellite launch costs to US$3,000/kg, some scientists have estimated that an electromagnetic space launch system could drive those costs down to a mere US$60/kg.
China completely invalidating SpaceX's business model would be hilarious.
NASA is banned from working with China, so it would be genuinely hilarious if they were the only group stuck paying $3k per kg.
I’m not sure what’s funnier. If China open sources the technology and NASA would have no choice but to switch to it, or they keep it proprietary and force the US to use spacex
And retroactively blames those shifty [slurs] for stealing American tech that previously was just a series of doodles on a napkin
Elon tries to build a space trebuchet to compete, the release mechanism gets a bug and slams a $50,000,000 rocket directly into the ground. Blames China and Chelsea Manning.
I think the funniest outcome would be Elon being forced to try to build a space gun to try to compete.
During fundraising events he shows videos of the prototype in action.
The video... (invidious front end for youtube used)
The SpaceX rockets being reusable barely put a dent in the price of launches, they were already cheap. probably has something to do with them using RP-1 fuel wich is is cheaper and easier to store and creates greenhouse gasses vs. the clean burning liquid hydrogen that NASA and ESA use.
the answer to every infrastructure problem is high-speed rail
I hope they figure out how to do this with engineless commercial airliners (I know it'll never happen but it would be cool)
Fuck it, I see no reason why a train couldn't be shot between two tracks 100 miles apart
Well, you could make a "train" to orbit but your rail would have to be hundreds of kilometers long, dozens of kilometers tall, held up with wires and particle accelerators, and the train would probably just be a single car
Btw this would just accelerate the space plane so it doesnt have to burn as much fuel as otherwise. It's not a literal train into space
Don't listen to them, comrade Xi will make Honkai Star Rail real.
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
Look up launch loops if you're interested in trains to space
Its not a new idea, arthur c clarke wrote about a rail launcher in Prelude to Space (1947), he based most of that story on how the scientists at that time expected space travel to happen.
"We have perfected instantaneous teleportation."
"Pfffft, Star Trek did it."
No rail launchers arent new, they just havent been invested in for space travel. At a guess id say because they are expensive and end up stuck in one place, which adds limitations later on
bringing a science fiction concept into reality presents an engineering challenge that requires both research and innovation; research to find what the real life problems stopping you are, and innovation to solve them
By this definition innovation only exists as fictional writings
true, though putting it into practise would still be something else
Implementation is the dividing line between a cool sci-fi idea and actual innovation.
I couldn't find the cost of this project specifically, but China's total space budget is $12 billion a year.
Pittance we sent that much to Israel this year
Must be nice to have a good government
VIII for sure. The cool futuristic society in that one launched stuff to space with a railgun.
Yeah Esthar had a space gun that shot pods into space.
Yup you can tell this is a railroad to space cause the reporting is just as awful as all the reporting on Chinese trains
There are only two acceptable ways to write about Chinese trains. Either spin it to somehow be bad, or just don't provide necessary context and instead write falsities. And Chinese news often does the latter.
The article says that the railgun part accelerates the plane to mach 1.7 and then the rocket on the plane fires and it accelerates further.
The Concorde was designed to cruise at mach 2, so that's a very survivable speed if the acceleration on the rail isn't too abrupt, like you said.
I think the acceleration is the crucial part, the speed you are going at is irrelevant, just the change in speed
It’s still would be like 1-2 km, if they aim at 10g. And they still need to find another 20 machs from rocket booster.
Doing full railgun with small rockets is more poggers (without humans obv )
Tests will be carried out at 1.2 mile long low-vacuum track high-speed maglev test facility in Datong, generally used when researching magnetic levitation train technology
Within coming years, the Datong test facility will be extended to 37.2 miles long, to achieve a maximum operating speed of a staggering 5,000km/h.
biiiiig track incoming
That would still be a rough ride for a person, but it could absolutely revolutionize getting construction materials into orbit.
If you assume humans are frictionless spheres they could probably ride on that second one
I don't think we know the payload specifications of the proposed vehicle that would use it
I wonder how they plan to handle the heat generated? Maybe you don't need the same kind of acceleration for a rail launcher than with a rail gun.
If they used the same acceleration as a rail gun they'd only be sending bodies to space, not people.
Sure, but they've specified they plan to transport people and cargo.
I mean... a gun would need a much shorter distance to launch a projectile to be useful. A rail launcher for spacecraft could be WAY longer and still be useful, maybe that will help keep heat under control?
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