Watch the journey of 'throwing' the ship into space at a speed of 1,600km/h using a mechanical arm

This is the 8th suborbital flight test of SpinLaunch, a company that develops spacecraft technology, conducted on April 22. Cameras mounted on the launch vehicle recorded the process of flying away from the ground at extremely high speed.

In the video, viewers will admire the scene inside the launch chamber before the payload is shot out of the launch tube, and then the scene of the ground becoming farther away at breakneck speed.

SpinLaunch has long proposed a plan to launch vehicles into orbit using mechanical arms. With this system, electric motors will help the object to be launched accelerate in the vacuum chamber before being shot through the pipe and thrown into space at a speed of up to Mach 6 (7,408 km/h). This launch method helps the vehicle fly as high as a conventional rocket, then a small rocket can push the vehicle to its destination in orbit.

SpinLaunch says this launch method significantly reduces costs and environmental impact.

SpinLaunch has had several successful launches at a completed test facility in New Mexico, and NASA is evaluating the technology.

In the test in the video above, SpinLaunch did not provide specific data about the altitude in this launch, previous test launch vehicles have reached an altitude of 9,150m.

SpinLaunch's mechanical arm system creates an acceleration force on the vehicle that is more than 1,000 times greater than the limit that humans can withstand. Therefore, it will not be used for passenger flights but is only suitable for carrying goods that can withstand such impact forces.

Marvin Fry

Update 17 July 2024