TORONTO – Rockets are so 20th century.
Rather than using rockets as a main source to get supplies into space, HyperV Technologies Corp., a U.S.-based company out of Chantilly, Virginia, is proposing using an old-fashioned slingshot to do the job.
The company has launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds to further its research into their device, called the Slingatron, which uses gyration to fling things into space.
The slingshot it’s modelling its device after isn’t the one you might be familiar with, but rather the classical sling where an object is put into a pocket and swung round and round above one’s head until it is released.
Instead of using a rope to sling objects, the Slingatron uses a strong steel track in the form of a spiral. The gyrating platform then moves around 40 to 60 cycles per second. The payload is released into the entrance, near the centre and then rapidly accelerates.
In order to overcome the issue of friction, the payload slides on a plasma bearing film. When the payload reaches a velocity of 7 km/s (in order to remain in low earth orbit, objects must travel at roughly 7.6 km/s) in the final spiral turn, it launches through a track angled up a hill or other structure. Because the payload will lose some velocity as it goes through our atmosphere, small rockets would be attached to give it its extra boost.
Think it’s a far-out idea? Check out the video below and watch as a half-pound payload used in one of the test runs is fired out of a small prototype:
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