Possibilities of Lorentz Electromagnetic Accelerators for Launch of Payloads in Low-Earth-Orbit

Abstract

Among a number of possible electromagnetic accelerator systems, three systems attract the attention of the investigators due to their high efficiency: magnetic levitation, coil accelerator and Lorentz ramp accelerator systems. The study presents and discusses the state of the art of these systems, comparing their properties and commenting their possibilities and limitations by near future potential applications. In a long prospective, the magnetic levitation launch-assist system could be a solution for aircraft like operations for heavy payloads measured in Mg with subsonic velocities up 200m/s at about 1G, while for low Earth orbit LEO start of launch packages with weight in the range between 100kg and 2000kg a suitable solution could be coil accelerator. However, today Lorentz ramp accelerators is the only electromagnetic based technology which has reached a maturity level that make it potential candidate for the launch of very small payloads into LEO. For such systems it could be expected high performances concerning velocity, efficiency, launch costs and repetition rate. To illustrate the possibilities of Lorentz ramp accelerators, it is described in detail the EMAIL project concept of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) – Institute for Aerodynamics and Flow Technology for launching pico- and nano-satellites into LEO.