Quicklaunch is an inactive US company attempting to use a type of space gun to launch payloads into low Earth orbit . It is a university spin-off of the SHARP project which ended 2005.
3-415: The Quicklaunch proposed firing apparatus was a light-gas gun using hydrogen as the working gas and natural gas as the explosive heat source. Heating and pre-pressurizing the hydrogen working gas takes 10 minutes before the shot and most of the hydrogen is recovered by a muzzle muffler at the end of the launch tube to be reused for subsequent launches. The 1,100-metre-long (3,600 ft) gun would be, for
6-437: A propellant depot in orbit. Projected costs to orbit were $ 500 per pound ($ 1,100/kg). In a 2016 article, Hunter remarked that the work had been put in stasis due in part to Elon Musk 's company, SpaceX , taking up the challenge of reducing costs to orbit. Hunter however invited someone with a similar level of money and motivation, to take a fresh look at the approach. Later, Hunter ran a new start-up called Green Launch that
9-588: The most part, submerged in the ocean. Its horizontal and vertical direction ( azimuth and elevation ) could be adjusted based on customer launch requirements. The proposed launcher was designed to give projectiles an initial speed of 6 km/s (3.7 mi/s) while the Earth orbital speed is 6.9 to 7.8 km/s (4.3 to 4.8 mi/s). The projectile design therefore included a one-stage rocket which ignites some time after launch. The designed payloads could include spacecraft, satellites, consumable, water or fuel to supply
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