Revolutionizing Space Launch - The Economic and Operational Benefits of the Variable-Pitch Screw Architecture

This paper introduces a novel ground launch assist technology, the Variable-Pitch Screw Launch (VPSL), which utilizes magnetic coupling with variable pitch leadscrews to achieve high exit velocities at significantly reduced costs compared to traditional chemical rockets. VPSL addresses the limitations of current linear accelerators by circumventing the switching constraints of linear motors and eliminating the rail wear commonly associated with railguns.Significantly, the capital cost of VPSL is proportional to the square of the exit velocity (ΔV
²
), providing a more favorable economic scaling compared to the exponential cost increases (exp(ΔV/V
e
)) inherent in chemical propulsion systems and the cubic cost growth (ΔV
³
) observed in some linear motor components. A parametric model estimates the capital cost of a human-rated launcher capable of accelerating 21,181 kg vehicles to a speed of 11,129 m/s to be 32 billion in 2024 USD.