Our interest at the Kennedy Space Center is not in the use of these devices as projectile launchers, but in the possibility that they can be used to construct a launch assist track.
NASA studies have argued that future generation launch systems, composed of an air breathing hypersonic vehicle launched off of a high speed rail, as depicted in Fig. 1, could
substantially reduce the cost of placing payloads into earth orbit.
Significant advantages in airframe weight, engine type, and engine scale could be realized if this vehicle were launched from a ground based track at supersonic speeds
(above Mach 1.2).
Yet to date, most studies and prototype launch assist systems have proposed using linear synchronous motors or linear induction motors,9 neither of which
appear to have been demonstrated at speeds above Mach 1 and which would be expensive to construct and operate.
Given its relative simplicity and exceptional speed, this raises the question, “can railgun technology be used to launch a hypersonic air breathing vehicle?”