Light gas gun system for launching building material into low earth orbit.

摘要

A vital element for space exploration is the ability to place large quantities of building materials into low earth orbit. Our calculations indicate this can be done using a hydrogen gas gun specifically designed to launch metric ton size packages. Atmospheric drag, gravity, and the necessity to raise the perigee will require a single stage rocket to supply the additional 1-4 km/sec. We present a launcher design which features reliability and low maintenance as well as simplicity. The launcher will deliver masses ranging from 1000 kg to 4000 kg at velocities between 7.1 km/sec and 4.7 km/sec respectively. Our system is a straightforward tailoring of two stage hydrogen gas gun technology. Each system is capable of delivering over 1000 metric tons of payload into low earth orbit annually. 3 refs., 9 figs.