(Photo: South China Morning Post)
Beijing: Chinese scientists are working on a giant electromagnetic launch track that would be capable of sending a 50-ton spacecraft into orbit.
As reported by the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the ‘Giant Rail Gun’ system will be designed in a way that will increase the speed of the hypersonic aircraft to Mach 1.6. After reaching the end of the plane’s track, its engines will launch it into space at seven times the speed of sound.
If Chinese scientists succeed in developing this system, it will significantly reduce the amount of fuel needed to send spacecraft into space and allow more payloads to be sent into space.
According to SCMP, Chinese scientists are actively working to turn this idea into reality.
It should be noted that China is not the first country to think about the use of an electromagnetic space launch system. In the 1990s, NASA began building a 50-foot-long test rail, but the project was abandoned due to insufficient funds and technical constraints.
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