Oneil launchers

Recenttly I have had many discussions with people about Oneil Guns, and how they can be used to launch satelites. Now I know what you are going to say,"The force of the satelite launching that fast would smash all of the components to the back of the casing", but this particular problem has been solved a Japanese scientist named Hiroshi Saotome. If you fill the satelite with a non-conductive gel that is able to evenly distribute the force then the problem is solved.

[edit on 5-1-2007 by JamesMcMahn]

Aren't mass drivers a concept by which things are dropped from orbit onto a planet as a weapon, rather than launching something from the surface into orbit?

JamesMcMahn, do you have any links for this "non-conductive gel" invention? I've never heard of it - which doesn't mean anything - but it sort of smells like an urban legend. In any case, I don't see how filling a satellite with gelatin is going to more evenly distribute force - the components of the satellite are still subjected to G-forces well in excess of what would normally break them.

However, it is possible to arrange electronic components inside an artillery shell in such a way that they can survive launch. This is exactly what was done with the Excalibur round, a GPS-guided artillery shell. With hearty enough electronics arranged so that G-forces are distributed properly the GPS electronics can survive high G-loads during launch and through the flight of the round, all the way to the moment of impact. I'm not sure what the impact of such a flight would be on other senstive satellite parts - solar panels, etc. - but I'm sure that these problems could, ultimately, be engineered out or around.

In any case, a gelatin-filled satellite doesn't solve the biggest problem of building a gun capable of launching satellites - economics. No one has ever built any sort of satellite-launching gun - or, for that matter, a satellite designed to be launched from a gun. Any company wanting to enter into the orbital launch business with this business model would be facing a significant research and development investment before they could think about launching a even small satellite. Additionally, that company would probably need to engineer, build, and launch a number of demonstration satellites before anyone put much faith in their launcher. And that all adds up to a VERY expensive satellite.

Ultimately the people most interested in such a launch system would be builders of small satellites - small companies, university students, etc. - where it would be simpler to engineer in the more hearty electronic components of a gun-launched satellite. To do so a company using the gun-launched method would need to make their launcher cheaper (and more reliable) than other low-payload orbital launch systems like the ~$12 million Pegasus and/or "hitching a ride" on a larger launcher like the Ariane 5, which can use launch capability not occupied by its primary payload to boost small satellites.

The gel idea is supposed to work off of the theory that you can't compress a liquid. The idea is that by filling all open areas of the satellite with gel nothing can move when the satellite is accelerated. Problem is that maybe you can't compress liquids, but metals and other solids can be compressed. The other drawback is by filling the satellite with gel you are increasing its mass and will require more power to send it into orbit.

Originally posted by JIMC5499
The other drawback is by filling the satellite with gel you are increasing its mass and will require more power to send it into orbit.

That's one of the first things I thought of. But if the thing is powerful enough, then perhaps it doesn't matter. What I wonder is, couldn't one just accelerate it at a more reasonable speed so that it doesn't damage the satellite you're launching?

I wonder if a Magnetically Levitated type of acceleration would work ? just wondering

wasn't there a scientists who was designing a giant cannon for saddam
that could launch a warhead into tehran and satelites also. i believe they made a prototype that launched the projectile like a hundred miles. the designer was killed by mossad agents before he could build full size model.
the pieces were destroyed by the first gulf war. update here is the wiki on the scientist en.wikipedia.org...


[edit on 8-1-2007 by chron]

Originally posted by chron
wasn't there a scientists who was designing a giant cannon for saddam
that could launch a warhead into tehran and satelites also. i believe they made a prototype that launched the projectile like a hundred miles. the designer was killed by mossad agents before he could build full size model.
the pieces were destroyed by the first gulf war. update here is the wiki on the scientist en.wikipedia.org...

[edit on 8-1-2007 by chron]

It was called the Babylon Cannon and it was destroyed during the Gulf War.