Space Cannon: This isn't rocket science

Californian entrepreneur Mike Grace wants to launch satellites into space using a kind of giant cannon. Can that succeed? The military is already interested.

April 19, 2026, 4:17 p.m

9 Comments

Article summary

Mike Grace, a California entrepreneur, plans to launch cargo into space without using rockets. His start-up Longshot Space Technologies is developing an acceleration tube that will accelerate cargo to many times the speed of sound. The concept is based on an idea from the Nazis and is intended to make the journey into space significantly cheaper. Despite technical challenges and skeptical voices, including Scott Hubbard, the military is showing interest in the technology for hypersonic weapons and missile defense. Longshot could not only revolutionize the space economy, but also find military applications.

This summary was created using artificial intelligence. Occasionally errors may occur.

Did you find the summary helpful?

Two hundred kilometers would be enough for Mike Grace for now. The Californian entrepreneur is looking for an area of this length where there are no people far and wide that he could endanger if he shoots his load into space. Small Satellites for example, or supplies for space stations. He doesn’t want to transport her in a rocket like almost everyone else, no, Grace just wants to launch the covered cargo herself. In a horizontal tube ten kilometers long, it is supposed to be accelerated to many times the speed of sound, then gradually move away from the earth’s surface and shoot towards the sky.