--- title: "Company Says Giant Cannon for Shooting Satellites Into Orbit Would Be Fatal for Astronauts" description: "A startup called SpinLaunch has been working to fling satellites into orbit via giant cannon for nearly a decade. Bad news: it won't work on humans." date: "2022-06-02" modified: "2022-06-02" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/giant-cannon-satellite-launches-fatal-astronauts" categories: - "Off-World" - "Space" tags: - "NASA" - "satellites" - "spinlaunch" - "the digest" --- # Company Says Giant Cannon for Shooting Satellites Into Orbit Would Be Fatal for Astronauts ![A startup called SpinLaunch has been working to fling satellites into orbit via giant cannon for nearly a decade. Bad news: it won't work on humans.]() *\Image: Getty Images/Futurism\* ## Human Cannonball Aptly-named startup SpinLaunch has been working to fling satellites into orbit via a giant centrifuge — basically a kinetic cannon — for nearly a decade. Unfortunately, it turns out that firing humans into space with said giant cannon would turn them into astronaut tartare, [*New Scientist* reports](). During a tour of the facility, the magazine's reporter Leah Crane asked in what she characterized as a "half joking" manner whether it would be possible to load a whole person into the assembly. "They said no," she wrote. "This system is for satellites only, because the g-forces from being spun around that fast would be fatal." ## Centrifuge Bummer That said, it's still an intriguing vision of space travel. Due to the high price tag on rocket fuel, sending satellites into the sky isn't cheap. Founded in 2014, the startup's hulking centrifuge — currently running tests in the deserts of New Mexico, where Crane visited — is [designed to spin payloads really, really fast]() before firing them skyward at incredible velocities, in a bid to provide customers with a much cheaper alternative to chemical propulsion. "The most complex, expensive and polluting part of space launch is the rocket," Mark Sipperley, the slingshot project's director of engineering, told *NS.* (Though this practice might reduce fossil fuel pollutants, it's worth noting that [satellite-tossing does nothing to improve the sustainability issue of space debris]().) ## Orbit Part Getting delicate electronics into orbit via kinetic energy is no small feat, and the centrifuge is still only ready for practice runs. According to *NS,* SpinLaunch aims to complete a space-ready accelerator by 2025, which will be three times the size of the current model — an impressive goal, because the current one is already larger than the Statue of Liberty. But with NASA and Pentagon inking contracts with the company, it sounds like some powerful entities see potential in the concept. Too bad we can't use it for astronauts, though, because getting people to space is still wildly expensive. For now, we'll still have to go the old-fashioned way: [wearing a diaper, in a rocket made by a billionaire](). **More on astronaut launching:** [*SpaceX Replacing Defective Heat Shield Before Next Astronaut Launch*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()