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China develops innovative project that could revolutionize the aerospace sector: electromagnetic cannon promises to make rocket launches cheaper.
Chinese scientists are developing innovative solutions for launching space rockets. One of these solutions is the construction of an electromagnetic cannon, which is constantly evolving. The continuous effort to achieve new advances makes China explore new ways of launching its spacecraft.
China's electromagnetic cannon was designed in 1918
The project they are developing is nothing short of futuristic and consists of building a huge electromagnetic cannon, or Railgun, able to firing 50-ton vehicles into space at a speed of 1.957 kilometers per hour, or Mach 1,6. Electromagnetic cannons exploit electromagnetism so that it is possible to fire objects even at very high speeds.
In reality, this type of instrument has a history of more than a century. In fact, the first project of this type was carried out in 1918 by the French inventor Louis Octave Fauchon-Villeplee and obviously had military objectives. This first railgun prototype consisted of two parallel conductive rods connected by the wings of a projectile.
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This entire device was then completely surrounded by a magnetic field. Over the years, this idea has been revisited several times. For example, during Second World War, was explored by German Joachim Hansler to design an electric anti-aircraft gun. Even today, this type of technology continues to be exploited almost exclusively by the armed forces of several countries.
Now, China is trying to adapt it for use in astrophysics. Clearly, there are some modifications to be made: the original design was intended to fire at objects considerably smaller and lighter than a spacecraft. These objects could, in this way, reach speeds much greater than those of a 50-ton ship.
China's electromagnetic cannon already has more than 10 years of studies
China's railgun project was initiated to avoid the enormous costs of the traditional rockets used until then and, although it is still in an experimental phase, it has been active since 2016.
The project came to be called Tengyun and is currently the only project of its kind in the world, not because no one has thought of alternative uses for this type of tech, but rather because those who previously decided to carry out a similar project had to give up and discontinue the project due to the very high costs and the lack of results that could actually be exploited in other contexts.
Today, after almost 10 years of studies, China continues to pursue its research work on its electromagnetic cannon, believing in thepossibility of developing a device capable of launching a ship into space using predominantly electromagnetic propulsion.
It is worth mentioning that the development of China's electromagnetic cannon does not completely eliminate the use of fuel, which is essential for space rockets today, but requires incredibly smaller quantities.
Project can launch rockets up to 50 times cheaper
Using China's railgun would reduce fuel consumption and launch costs to a fraction of the normal price. China plans to reach a price of US$60 for each kg of cargo, according to the portal South China Morning Post. That's 50 times less than the cost of launches aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9, which costs around US$3 per kg.
China has already built a 2 km long test track in Datong city, Shanxi province. It is the most ambitious high-speed magnetic levitation installation on the planet, according to the Hong Kong newspaper. In its current configuration, it can propel a heavy object at speeds approaching 1.000 km/h. The idea is to expand its length to reach 5 thousand km/h.
Jules Verne strikes again. He imagined a similar solution in From the Earth to the Moon. Of course, he was thinking with a 19th-century mind and thought of gunpowder instead of electromagnetism. But it's always interesting when reality catches up with science fiction in some way.
It would be good to mention that the cannon is more like a slot car track than for a weapon that fires a projectile. Ask your AI to illustrate a launch track, where the capsule/rocket accelerates on a frictionless track, through electromagnetic action, and at the end the track creates a launch angle for whatever is being launched.
If you burn one and a half neurons you will be able to imagine what happens with the impact of a shot at 1,6 times the speed of sound against a capsule/rocket. Even so, I will help you with a tip: the object will not be thrown.