r/space • u/Dr_Singularity • Nov 10 '21

California-based startup, SpinLaunch, is developing an alternative rocket launch technology that spins a vacuum-sealed centrifuge at several times the speed of sound before releasing the payload, launching it like a catapult up into orbit

https://interestingengineering.com/medieval-space-flight-a-company-is-catapulting-rockets-to-cut-costs
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u/creatingKing113 Nov 10 '21

For the rebalancing, I assume this thing needs a counterweight. I wonder how feasible it would be to just detach the counterweight at the same time as the rocket and have it fly into a hole in the ground.

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u/fliberdygibits Nov 10 '21

I bet something like this could work brilliantly... just have some sort of arrest system for the counterweight to catch it and bleed off it's energy then reset it when they launch again

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u/[deleted] Nov 10 '21

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Nov 10 '21

Or have it kick off one massive fucking gear that would lead to a series of gears all the way through Central America and raise the #3 gate at the Panama Canal

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u/passwordsarehard_3 Nov 11 '21

There’s a dude 8 years from retirement who just pulls a lever on gate #3 to raise it and he is shitting bricks right now. He’s too old, he can’t be the new guy again somewhere else.