The Launch Ring - Circular EM Accelerators for Low Cost Orbital Launch

[Abstract] Despite huge potential benefits, no electromagnetic Earth-to-orbit launcher has yet been constructed, primarily due to the difficulty of providing the enormous power required. The Launch Ring adopts circular acceleration and much of the technology of modern synchrotrons to achieve orbital speeds without the need for extremely high power. Superconducting cables and coils are employed to create a passively stable high force magnetic suspension for a maglev “sled”, which is accelerated around an enclosed, evacuated circular track of large circumference until it reaches launch speed. A projectile is then released through a tangential exit tube and, potentially, into orbit. Radial accelerations exceeding 10,000 g’s and launch speeds exceeding 10 kilometers per second appear achievable with both a relatively small accelerator for launching 10 kg micro-satellites and a larger accelerator for 1000 kg projectiles. Development of Launch Rings could lead to remotely operated assembly facilities in orbit and a radically less expensive approach to space exploitation.