China wants to launch Railgun spacecraft into space

Electromagnetic catapult

March 18, 2024 9:46 p.m. Robert Klatt

China wants to launch a reusable spacecraft larger than a Boeing 737 into Earth’s orbit using an electromagnetic catapult.

Beijing (China). Since 2016, China has been developing a reusable spacecraft as part of the Tengyun project, which will be longer than a Boeing 737 and weigh 50 tonnes. To launch the spacecraft with commonly used rockets, a lot of fuel would be required. In addition, the aerodynamic design of the spacecraft should be adapted to the low speeds in the acceleration phase during takeoff. However, these changes would be negative for high speeds during the rest of the mission.

According to a report from South China Morning Post (SCMP), Chinese scientists have therefore designed an electromagnetic track which will allow the spacecraft to be launched into Earth orbit. During the launch phase, the “railgun” is intended to accelerate the spacecraft to Mach 1.6 (1,976 km/h). The engines then ignite in Earth’s upper atmosphere, accelerating the spacecraft to the hypersonic speed of Mach 7 (8,644 km/h).

Test track in northern China

The China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC), a state-owned aerospace and defense enterprise, has built a two-kilometer-long test track in northern China to test the electromagnetic catapult. The test track consists of a near-vacuum tube in which objects are accelerated by a magnetic levitation train. CASIC has already reached a speed of almost 1,000 km/h. A planned expansion of the test track in the coming years is expected to enable speeds of 5,000 km/h.

High startup speed required

According to the SCMP article, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) worked on an electromagnetic launch system for spacecraft in the 1990s. However, NASA only used a ten-meter test track long before the project was canceled. According to Chinese scientists, the test track was not sufficient to achieve the necessary launch speed. While NASA scientists thought a speed of “only” 700 km/h would be sufficient, Chinese wind tunnel tests show that a significantly higher speed is needed to replace the rocket’s first stage.