Lockheed Martin

Lunar Electromotive Launch

This student team worked to develop a concept for lunar propellant electromagnetic launch system. The students worked to bring to life Lockheed Martin's vision of a nuclear-enabled water-based economy for cislunar space to literally fuel the path to Mars. The student team worked to create a liquid oxygen/liquid hydrogen chemical and liquid hydrogen nuclear thermal propulsion that both relied on lunar-sourced water; they also worked to harvest (and electrolyze and store) very high power level systems resources. This student team also worked to utilize the high-energy systems to drive electromotive systems (like a railgun) to launch the resources into orbit for subsequent collection. As a first objective, this student team worked to produce a conceptual design report for a lunar propellant electromagnetic launch system. The study included an assessment of where to crack/store water versus hydrogen versus oxygen (surface vs. orbit) and sized the electromotive launch system, specifically in regard to length and power needs. The students also worked to package resources for launch and worked to identify what the launched "thing" looked like. The student team also worked to get the package subsequently into a stable orbit (NRHO) for later retrieval. As a second objective, the students work to build and test a (very) subscale ground suborbital system of a lunar-applicable railgun, including launching payloads. The outcomes the student team worked to achieve include: 1: They worked to produce a conceptual design report for a lunar propellant electromagnetic launch system 2: They worked to build and test a (very) subscale ground suborbital system of a lunar-applicable railgun, including launching payloads