Huge Fast Spacecraft Travelling Our Solar System

Abstract

Can you imagine a large space system leaving from an Earth space elevator in excess of 12.34 km/sec, ensuring quick travel within our solar system? How about if it had an additional 10 km/sec assist from a slingshot release with the ability to gain another 15 km/sec by doing gravity assists along the way? The total concept being discussed is fast enough to allow travelling around our solar system within months instead of decades. However, there is more for those seeking answers beyond Earth – how about the ability to send multi-hundreds of tonnes along this path in a huge space system with fuel for rendezvous and landing along the way? How? Forget the Rocket Equation! You assemble a large spacecraft above the gravity well of the Earth, add velocity to it by virtue of the Earth’s rotation and then release it with extra velocity as if from a giant slingshot. An extra-long space elevator could achieve these goals by 2038. This story should be told as part of future opportunities for space exploration and science. Solar system travel, and even into interstellar regions, becomes reality with space elevators designed to assemble massive satellites and enable high velocity releases. Keywords: Space elevators, Neptune, Apex Anchor, Interplanetary