Spinlaunch signs deal to build its spin launch facility on island in Alaska
Spinlaunch has now confirmed that it has signed a deal to build its spin launch facility on Adak island in the far western extent of the Alaskan island chain.
The facility will be a scaled up version of its spin launch test facility in New Mexico, shown to the right, that was used for tests back in 2022, hurling payloads 35,000 feet into the sky up by spinning them up.
Since then the company changed its leadership and shifted focus to building a satellite constellation that will at least initially will be launched by conventional rockets. This new agreement, actually signed in October 2024 but kept secret until now, suggests that it has not yet abandoned its spin launch technology.
Location of Spinlaunch’s proposed Adak launch site.
Kodiak and Poker Flat are Alaska’s other launch sites.
This launch site, marked as Adak on the map to the right, has a great deal of spaceport potential, even if Spinlaunch doesn’t end up building a spinner there for launching payloads.
All that being said, it seems they finally found the right spot, with agreement said to be a 100-year lease. The small island features multiple benefits that the company had been looking for. The first is its location, which provides plenty of launch trajectories over the Pacific Ocean. Also, the island, despite its small size and population of around 50, has an operational airport with scheduled passenger service and a deepwater port. Lastly, the company highlighted that infrastructure from a former Naval Air Facility on the island can be repurposed to support space operations, reducing development time and costs.
We therefore should not be surprised if down the road Spinlaunch continues its shift away from spinning payloads into space and instead eventually becomes a spaceport provider to other rocket companies.
Hat tip to BtB’s stringer Jay.
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Spinlaunch has now confirmed that it has signed a deal to build its spin launch facility on Adak island in the far western extent of the Alaskan island chain.
The facility will be a scaled up version of its spin launch test facility in New Mexico, shown to the right, that was used for tests back in 2022, hurling payloads 35,000 feet into the sky up by spinning them up.
Since then the company changed its leadership and shifted focus to building a satellite constellation that will at least initially will be launched by conventional rockets. This new agreement, actually signed in October 2024 but kept secret until now, suggests that it has not yet abandoned its spin launch technology.
Location of Spinlaunch’s proposed Adak launch site.
Kodiak and Poker Flat are Alaska’s other launch sites.
This launch site, marked as Adak on the map to the right, has a great deal of spaceport potential, even if Spinlaunch doesn’t end up building a spinner there for launching payloads.
All that being said, it seems they finally found the right spot, with agreement said to be a 100-year lease. The small island features multiple benefits that the company had been looking for. The first is its location, which provides plenty of launch trajectories over the Pacific Ocean. Also, the island, despite its small size and population of around 50, has an operational airport with scheduled passenger service and a deepwater port. Lastly, the company highlighted that infrastructure from a former Naval Air Facility on the island can be repurposed to support space operations, reducing development time and costs.
We therefore should not be surprised if down the road Spinlaunch continues its shift away from spinning payloads into space and instead eventually becomes a spaceport provider to other rocket companies.
Hat tip to BtB’s stringer Jay.
Readers!
My annual February birthday fund-raising drive for Behind the Black is now over. Thank you to everyone who donated or subscribed. While not a record-setter, the donations were more than sufficient and slightly above average.
As I have said many times before, I can’t express what it means to me to get such support, especially as no one is required to pay anything to read my work. Thank you all again!
For those readers who like my work here at Behind the Black and haven't contributed so far, please consider donating or subscribing. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
I’ve always thought the spin launch concept was interesting. But it strikes me that the stresses required to ‘spin’ something into LOE are just prohibitive. If you wanted to launch a brick, that’s fine, but could a solar panel, for example, survive the stresses of the spin? The g-forces required to accelerate to an orbital velocity would be significant.