TLDR · SCIENCE & FUTURISTIC TECHNOLOGY
LONGSHOT SPACE WANTS TO MAKE SPACE LAUNCH DUMB — AND REALLY CHEAP
Summary from the TLDR newsletter
Longshot Space's CEO Mike Grace thinks that rockets are an overly exquisite solution to the problem of sending large masses to space. The company's answer is a kinetic launch system that will be capable of reaching hypersonic speeds and shooting projectiles to orbital velocities for as low as $10 per kilogram. Its system involves a multiple-kilometer-long horizontal concrete tunnel that is basically a vacuum chamber. The system will generate a lot of noise, so it will have to be built somewhere very remote.