NASA estimates that the new costs of launching the future giant rocket into space may cost over $500 million per launch. Any savings on that cost could provide private businesses with a significant revenue, and the American taxpayers considerable savings.
As I’ve contemplated easier ways to perform space launches, I’ve always thought it would be easier to use a magnetic train system to increase the velocity of a rocket before launch, thereby reducing the amount of energy and specifically fuel needed. The magnetic train would carry the rocket horizontally gaining speed, reducing elevation gradually to then curve up to a vertical launch angle as the rocket is released from the system and propelled into the air.
Elon Musk’s Boring Company’s new tunnel hopes to propel vehicles 125-150 mph on average with a standard loop tunnel. This speed wouldn’t be very significant for a rocket launch, however Elon’s company has come up with a vacuum tunnel they are calling the Hyperloop, which they think can exceed carrying cargo over 600 mph.
Currently, the first stage ascent of a rocket takes about two minutes to launch 4.5 million pounds of fuel and cargo into the air. After just a minute the rocket reaches 1,000 mph, and has lost 1.5 million pounds of fuel. By the time the boosters are exhausted in two minutes, another million and a half or so pounds has been reduced and the rocket is traveling at about 3,000 mph.
If the Hyperloop can get the rocket to approximately 600 mph, or 60% or higher of the first minute’s rocket fuel, that could have a significant reduction in weight of possibly 900 thousand pounds (assuming burn rates of fuel are equal over time).
Significant calculations would need to be made to determine the cost of the Hyperloop creation and maintenance — length, size of a tunnel to fit a rocket, etc. In addition to the creation of a Hyperloop (vacuum tunnel), engineers would have to create a way for the rocket to successfully go from within the vacuum at 600+ mph to the normal atmosphere.
In addition, the cost savings on the launch of a rocket would need to be compared (reduction in weight, cost of fuel).
There may also be secondary benefits to having a tunnel launch, as this may help reduce initial weather and other risks.
Is a hyperloop rocket launch possible? What if speeds could even exceed 1,000 or 2,000 mph? Just a thought.