NASA is testing a catapult-like device aimed at launching small satellites into orbit.

The US space agency is collaborating with California-based SpinLaunch, which is developing a spinning arm capable of launching satellites at incredible speeds into the upper atmosphere and space.

The system is environmentally friendly and can significantly reduce the cost of satellites reaching orbit. It was partly inspired by work from American and Canadian researchers over 50 years ago.
York University astronomer Paul Delaney says, "It really shows our ability as a species to come up with new and innovative ideas." "It’s very exciting."

The startup built a prototype in New Mexico. It consists of a centrifuge inside a vacuum chamber. A rocket is loaded onto a large arm made of carbon fiber, powered by electric motors.

Eventually, they hope to spin the arm up to 450 revolutions per minute with the rocket reaching speeds of about 8,000 km/h before launch.

Rockets require enormous amounts of fuel to carry their payloads into space. Fuel made up 90 percent of the Saturn V’s mass, which transported astronauts to the Moon. SpinLaunch would require 70 percent less fuel than a conventional rocket.

Delaney says, "All I can see around SpinLaunch points to it being able to successfully launch payloads from 20 to 200 kilograms at very low cost this way."

SpinLaunch CEO and founder Jonathan Yaney said the idea was partly inspired by a 1960s military project involving Canadian and American researchers. They used giant guns to launch projectiles into the upper atmosphere at speeds sufficient to reach space. The project was called HARP, standing for High Altitude Research Project.

SpinLaunch now plans to build a launcher three times larger than the one in New Mexico and hopes to launch its first satellite into orbit by 2025.