Coaxial railgun experiment results

Electromagnetic launchers are attractive to the defense community because they have the capability to impart projectile velocities which are higher (in excess of 3 kilometers per second) than can be obtained with conventional cannon systems. This technology has only recently been considered for earth-to-space and space-ID-space launch applications in support of scientific and commercial space pograms. This paper describes the experimental test results of a coaxial railgun, and elaborates on the interior electromagnetic and ballistics environment imposed upon a small space probe launched from a large-scale coaxial railgun in space.