Launching FROM space

[Hobo]

So they say we cant go that far, that quick, in the universe because we are lauching from earth..

Couldnt we build some kind of platform in space  and lauch a rocket from the platform ?! Making it go for distance unthinkable  ?

[smjjames]

It wouldn't exactly be a platform, otherwise the rocket exhaust would push the structure itself.

Basically you're talking about a stardock. We have the technology to make one and certainly have the capabilities, but it's quite a project to do.

It's 100% something that will exist sometime in the future, we just need a launch vehicle (the Shuttle retired), the funding, planning, and the cooperation.

[vh]

Orbital shipyards!
I think we should capture an asteroid, use the moon, or maybe mar's moons on which we can build a mass driver or orbital railgun launch system

[Omnigeek6]

Railguns and mass drivers would be best used for getting spacecraft into orbit, which would be very useful for assembling larger vehicles and space stations in space. However, putting a railgun on a small object would pose the same problems as a platform, with the added issue of enormous acceleration forces.

Also, any spacecraft large enough to have to be built in orbit would either be manned or interstellar. In both cases, the spacecraft themselves would most likely be nuclear-powered, which would make the energy input from a railgun negligible.

[vh]

Also, any spacecraft large enough to have to be built in orbit would either be manned or interstellar. In both cases, the spacecraft themselves would most likely be nuclear-powered, which would make the energy input from a railgun negligible.


the point of launching from space is not because trhe spacecraft cannot be created from the ground, it is because in space, the energy required for launch is much lower due to no/negliable gravity

[Hobo]

Alright, well thanks for the answer. it helped.

[clockworks]

People want to build bases on the moon, mars or asteroids to launch rockets from.
It saves on delta-v which means lots more energy is saved and time.
It's plausible today but no one wants to or has the money

[vh]

I'm pretty sure OP is talking about launching from empty space and not so much a moon/planet. Anyway i don't think money is too big of a concern if we develop new technologies. Assuming the orbital shipyard and base must be around 10 times larger than a space shuttle, that is 20,000 tons. At current prices, that would cost 200 billion. uhh about 20+ years of NASA's budget. With a single elevator, this price could be easily lowered to 4 billion, or 1/2 year of nasa's budget. With multiple elevators, building an orbital base 500 times the size of the ISS would cost as little as $2 billion.

[blotz]

But isn't NASA's budget lowered? They aren't really doing mass projects, which they abandoned ~1 year ago. Using Russian crafts to send them into space to fix the ISS.

Also wouldn't bases from space cost even more money? The stuff would have to be launched from Earth, and then launches from wherever. If you were (somehow) producing from the terrestrial object, the factory would needed to be built, and we would need oxygen mask for stuff like that. Plus, we don't have a habitable planet in our system as far as we know, and even if that, the gravity/size of the planet would have to be relatively the same. Even if you used the Delta-V, there would still be a cost. Nothing comes free.

[FiahOwl]

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[Darvince]

But isn't NASA's budget lowered? They aren't really doing mass projects, which they abandoned ~1 year ago. Using Russian crafts to send them into space to fix the ISS.

Also wouldn't bases from space cost even more money? The stuff would have to be launched from Earth, and then launches from wherever. If you were (somehow) producing from the terrestrial object, the factory would needed to be built, and we would need oxygen mask for stuff like that. Plus, we don't have a habitable planet in our system as far as we know, and even if that, the gravity/size of the planet would have to be relatively the same. Even if you used the Delta-V, there would still be a cost. Nothing comes free.

Bong... Did you... You're now my friend! Yay for grammar!

* Darvince facepined

[clockworks]

A orbiting base but be near impossible because when the rocket lifted off, it's power would push the base away so it would have to be on a moon/asteroid or the orbital dock would need to be huge

[vh]

Not necessarily. Just as a RPG (rocket-propelled-grenade) doesn't create much recoil because the rocket isn't pushing against the person, in space, the rocket won't be pushing against the station and would cause little to no recoil and movement.