Rockets are notoriously troublesome. The old friend “physics” forces rockets to have almost no room for error, and even so, only a small portion of their weight actually ends up in orbit.

At least in theory, there are other ways to accomplish this task – such as a space elevator, a centrifuge, or a long chain that hangs down from a satellite to retrieve goods from Earth. ( Blue Origin once spent time considering the latter idea, which later became a plot element in Neal Stephenson's novel.)

There is another idea that can be traced back to Jules Verne: using a cannon to shoot a projectile into space.

The startup company Longshot Space Technology, headquartered in Alameda, California, is exactly doing this. Co-founder and CEO Mike Grace and Chief Technology Officer Nato Saichek believe that they can apply a technology that has already proven its value to the urgent needs of space launches. The company says it has raised approximately 20 million dollars from venture capitalists to advance this mission.

Grace said that in cutting-edge technology fields, "you can create something very innovative, or you can undertake a very challenging task. It's impossible to have both." Taking SpaceX as an example, he mentioned that this company "has carried out large-scale expansion of technologies that are traditionally considered low-risk." He stated that what SpaceX has achieved with the help of NASA's rocket research institute will be replicated on multiple cannon systems with injectable propellants – a design that was used during World War II and in research projects in the 1960s to provide additional acceleration for projectiles inside the barrel.

The idea behind Longshot is to compress all the work performed by the first stage of the launch rocket into a reusable accelerator on the ground. It can be imagined as a horizontal steel tube placed on the ground, with high-pressure gas tanks connected at different positions along the tube. As the projectile is launched and moves forward along the tube, these gas tanks will burst open at precise moments to accelerate it – currently up to Mach 4.

The company is currently testing a cannon that is 70 feet long and 6 inches in diameter at a test site near Basto, California, and claims that it can accelerate the projectile to near supersonic speeds. Soon, the company expects to activate a cannon that is 140 feet long and 30 inches in diameter at the Alamida test site. After that, the company also plans to build a cannon with a diameter of 30 inches and a length of 328 feet, with plans to extend it to about 3,000 feet – which would make it the largest cannon on Earth. The team says it will be capable of launching a 220-pound payload at a speed of Mach 8.

These cannons not only allow Longshot to continuously validate their technology, but also generate revenue by providing hypersonic testing for the US military, for which the company has been granted several contracts. Grace envisions building such a cannon at US military bases, such as Fort Bliss, to make it part of the infrastructure for testing the next generation of American interceptor missiles. (Moreover, no, these cannons do not need to be tilted upwards. The projectile of Longshot is a lifting body, which means its shape generates lift, so it will climb on its own through aerodynamics after leaving the barrel.)

Grace asked, "If you want to practice shooting down China's or Russia's hypersonic missiles, wouldn't you prefer not to spend 30 million dollars?" He stated, "This is a method to create hypersonic 'disc targets' for just 500,000 or 250,000 dollars; you launch them and then shoot them down, and the speed is very high with very low costs."

However, the ultimate goal is still to send a large payload into space. The team is confident that they can expand the current design to accelerate the payload to 5 kilometers per second, which is over 11,000 miles per hour. If the payload itself is equipped with a propulsion system, such a speed would be sufficient to enter space, and in fact, the payload would act as the second stage of the rocket. But to achieve this, a cannon that is 10 kilometers long and nearly 10 feet in diameter would be required. As you might imagine, one of the company's challenges is simply finding a suitable location to build it.

Saichek joked, "The challenge isn't making something, but finding a place where they are willing to let you build it."

But if Longshot can achieve its vision, the mathematical model of this scheme would be very attractive: both the cost of system construction and fuel are low, and it is highly reusable. Grace estimates that if everything goes well, they could reduce the cost of sending payloads into space to an incredible $50 per kilogram (about $22 per pound). Considering that the much sought-after orbital data center industry needs to get off the ground, the price needs to be reduced to around $300 per kilogram, which means that Longshot still has a lot of room to offer competitive prices.

Launching a spacecraft with such a shape and specifications requires some modifications, but at such price levels, satellite operators would be willing to give it a try.

If you want to learn more about Longshot itself, while also getting a chance to see dozens of startups in action, listen to their pitch presentations, and hear from guests on four different stages, you're welcome to attend the Disrupt event in San Francisco this Tuesday through Thursday. For more information, please visit here.