Longshot Space Wants to Launch Payloads Into Orbit With a Massive Gun

Physics dictates that modern rockets are inefficient, with only a tiny fraction of their mass reaching orbit. Longshot co-founders CEO Mike Grace and CTO Nato Saichek argue that the solution is not more novelty, but the scaling of de-risked technology. Their approach utilizes multi-injection guns—a design that provides successive boosts as a projectile moves down a barrel—originally developed during World War II and 1960s research programs.

The company is currently testing a 70-foot gun near Barstow, California, capable of near-hypersonic speeds. Future plans involve constructing a 328-foot cannon, with an eventual goal of a 10-kilometer-long facility. Because the projectile is a lifting body, it generates aerodynamic lift upon exiting the barrel, allowing it to gain altitude without being fired at a steep angle. While the ultimate ambition is space delivery, Longshot is already securing revenue by providing low-cost hypersonic test targets for the U.S. military.

Scaling to orbital speeds requires a massive, six-mile-long installation, presenting a hurdle that is more logistical than technical. If successful, the system would drop launch costs to roughly $22 per pound, a price point that could fundamentally shift the economics for satellite operators. The company will showcase its progress this week at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco.