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Building and SpinLaunching at above 10k feet (3km) seems like a no-brainer. It reduces heating and weight while increasing terminal altitude substantially... like 2x.

It would be more efficient, if they could use a whip effect to (match impedance) capture much more of the rotational energy they put into the spin, more like a trebuchet.



Is optimizing efficiency relevant at all? I'd think the electrical power cost must be negligible compared to the rest of the cost of a launch.


It's not the electrical cost so much as system complexity. They could use less heat shield, more payload, spin the payload less hard, etc.


Is there any material strong enough to provide the whip? Or would you just make the spinning part slower?




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