First Principles with Christian Keil

#7: Nato Saichek - Shooting Satellites Into Orbit at Hypersonic Speeds

17 Apr 2024

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Nato decided against building a laser-powered rocket in favor of Longshot Space: a gun powered by pressurized air that can shoot payloads into orbit.======(00:00) - Intro(00:42) - Nato's Early Idea for a Laser Rocket at Astranis(02:30) - Nato Initially Being Skeptical of Longshot's Gun Idea(04:02) - Writing a Simulation that Showed a 4km Gun Could Reach Orbit(05:43) - Deciding to Join Longshot Full-Time after an SBIR Grant(07:22) - What Longshot is Building - A Massive Gun to Launch Payloads to Orbit(09:40) - Comparing Longshot to Hyperloop and SpinLaunch(10:52) - The Projectile's Trajectory after Exiting the Gun(13:35) - Reasons for Choosing a Gas Gun over Railgun or Traditional Gun(16:11) - The Critical First Moments after the Projectile Exits the Gun(18:02) - Longshot's Plan to Start with Hypersonic Testing(20:24) - Target Launch Costs of $10-$500 per kg, Orders of Magnitude Cheaper(23:28) - Using Space Tugs to Enable Different Orbits from an Equatorial Gun(26:08) - Drastically Lower Costs Enabling Things like Tractors on the Moon(28:30) - The Path from Garage Prototype to Orbital Launch System(31:44) - Traditional Rockets vs Gun Launch Physics and Engineering(35:35) - Iterating on Burst Disk Design to Get Microsecond Timing(44:04) - Going from Failed Mach 2 Shots to Mach 4 by Improving Projectiles(46:54) - Doing Hypersonic Testing in a Converted Auto Shop(49:14) - Iterating on Ways to Safely Catch Hypersonic Projectiles(51:53) - Using High Speed Cameras to Analyze Projectile Behavior(54:04) - Light Gates to Trigger Precise Timing of Barrel Accelerators(56:40) - Parts of the System with High vs Low Confidence(59:54) - Nato's Philosophy as a Generalist Engineer(01:03:15) - The Elegance of Passive Analog Guidance like the Sunbeam Toaster(01:07:17) - Being Okay with Initially Being Bad at Things to Become a Generalist(01:09:30) - Preference for Working on Civilization-Changing Mega Projects(01:10:26) - Conclusion======Links:Christian Keil – https://twitter.com/pronounced_kyleNato Saichek – https://twitter.com/natosaichekLongshot Space – https://www.longshotspace.com/======Production and marketing by The Deep View (https://thedeepview.co). For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected]======Checkout the video version here → http://tinyurl.com/4fh497n9🔔 Follow to stay updated with new uploads

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3ª PARTE | 17 DIC 2025 | EL PARTIDAZO DE COPE

01 Jan 1970

El Partidazo de COPE

13:00H | 21 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

01 Jan 1970

Fin de Semana

12:00H | 21 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

01 Jan 1970

Fin de Semana

10:00H | 21 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

01 Jan 1970

Fin de Semana

13:00H | 20 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

01 Jan 1970

Fin de Semana

12:00H | 20 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

01 Jan 1970

Fin de Semana

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First Principles with Christian Keil

#7: Nato Saichek - Shooting Satellites Into Orbit at Hypersonic Speeds

This episode hasn't been transcribed yet

Other recent transcribed episodes

3ª PARTE | 17 DIC 2025 | EL PARTIDAZO DE COPE

13:00H | 21 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

12:00H | 21 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

10:00H | 21 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

13:00H | 20 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

12:00H | 20 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

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