SpinLaunch tosses payload into orbit during one-of-a-kind test flight; watch dizzying clip

California-based launch providing company SpinLaunch had announced in early April to have signed a Space Act Agreement with NASA wherein it would launch payloads for the agency later this year. SpinLaunch, which was founded in 2014, has developed a concept of lofting spacecraft into orbit using a massive accelerator that is established at Spaceport America in New Mexico. The suborbital accelerator measures 165-foot-tall (50 meters) and slingshots spacecraft which then launches mid-air after gaining momentum. 

Ahead of its first mission with NASA, the company has been testing its suborbital accelerator which came to life in October 2021. Recently, SpinLaunch conducted a test with an optical camera payload that was tossed into the air during the eighth overall orbital test. The company even shared footage of the test launch that was captured by the payload camera zooming out of the red New Mexico desert. The dizzy video offers a perspective of the 3-meter flight test vehicle being launched into the atmosphere at a speed of over 1,600 kilometres per hour. 

Working of the accelerator

The suborbital, electric-powered kinetic-energy-based system would accelerate rockets and satellites using a rotating arm. This arm would swing the payload at high speeds through a massive nozzle directed skywards. This method has the potential to reduce the expense of fuel, hardware and capital as the spacecraft would fire their engines after reaching far up in the sky. 

"SpinLaunch is offering a unique suborbital flight and high-speed testing service, and the recent launch agreement with NASA marks a key inflection point as SpinLaunch shifts focus from technology development to commercial offerings”, the company founder and CEO Jonathan Yaney had said in a statement. He further said that the company is looking forward to announcing more partners and customers in the future and appreciated “NASA’s continued interest and support in SpinLaunch”. Notably, SpinLaunch was enlisted into TIME's 100 most influential companies of 2022. Once the company starts conducting successful launches for its customers, it would conduct its own first orbital test flights in 2025.