--- title: "This Startup Plans to Fling Rockets Into Space With a Centrifuge" description: "Rocket technology company SpinLaunch is planning to start suborbital test flights using a massive centrifuge called as soon as this winter." date: "2020-01-29" modified: "2020-01-29" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/startup-fling-rockets-space-centrifuge" categories: - "Space" tags: - "satellite" - "spinlaunch" - "the digest" --- # This Startup Plans to Fling Rockets Into Space With a Centrifuge ![Rocket technology company SpinLaunch is planning to start suborbital test flights using a massive centrifuge called as soon as this winter.]() *\Image: SpinLaunch via Wired\* ## Satellite Slingshot Rocket technology company SpinLaunch is planning to start suborbital test flights using a massive centrifuge called the "Kinetic Launch System," [*Wired* reports](), as soon as this year. The outrageous concept would use the centrifuge to accelerate a small payload to speeds exceeding 5,000 miles per hour inside a vacuum chamber. A door to a launch tunnel would then open and send the payload into the stratosphere. A short burst of its engine will then take the load into orbit — at least in theory. ## Cheap and Fast The idea is to greatly reduce the amount of rocket fuel required per launch. The company also claims it can launch payloads up to five times a day, something that'd take other companies at least a month, according to *Wired*. Founder and CEO Jonathan Yaney told *Wired* that eventually the company could offer satellite launches for less than $500,000. ## Well Kept Secret The company still has a lot to prove and has tended to play its cards very close to the chest. So far, it has only slammed an 11 pound dummy payload into a steel wall after accelerating it to more than 4,000 miles per hour, *Wired* reports. While an iPhone survived the extreme forces during acceleration, critics are still worried that electronics could take a beating during the spin. Despite the criticism, the company is going full steam ahead. In May, it [broke ground]() for a new test facility three times the size of the company's existing one at Spaceport America in New Mexico. And the company [signed a contract]() with the U.S. Department of Defense in June. **READ MORE:** [Inside SpinLaunch, the Space Industry’s Best Kept Secret]() \[*Wired*\] **More on the startup:** *[Hypersonic Space Catapult Startup Signs Military Contract]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()