LAUNCHING SMALL SPACECRAFT INTO SPACE USING KINETIC FORCE

摘要

It is common knowledge that launching small spacecraft into near Earth space, or beyond Earth's gravitational pull into other parts of the solar system, is a very costly endeavour. However, one way to significantly reduce that cost is to find a way to propel a small spacecraft fast enough to exceed the Earth's escape velocity, which is about 11.2 km/s or 40,320 km/h (25,050 mph), without using a rocket fuel filled launch vehicle. This paper examines three different ways to propel a small spacecraft beyond the Earth's atmosphere, without using a separate launch vehicle: internal gas propulsion, external gas propulsion, and kinetic force. Note for the purposes of this paper, a small spacecraft is defined as a maneuverable space flight worthy vehicle that is 60 feet or less in length.