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Elon Musk revives ancient ballistic concept for launching from Moon (history future) - C C - Feb 19, 2026
This intersects with the Elon Musk on data centers in orbit: “SpaceX will be doing this” thread. Although the focus is on AI satellites here, one presumes any kind of object (including a container of construction material) could be "catapulted".
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Elon Musk wants to put a satellite catapult on the moon. It's not a new idea
https://www.space.com/astronomy/moon/elon-musk-wants-to-put-a-satellite-catapult-on-the-moon-its-not-a-new-idea
INTRO: Last week, SpaceX founder Elon Musk advised workers at the newly acquired company xAI that he wants to set up a factory on the moon to build artificial intelligence (AI) satellites. And he called for a colossal catapult on the lunar surface to fling them into space.
"My estimate is that, within two to three years, the lowest-cost way to generate AI compute will be in space," Elon Musk wrote in a Feb. 2 update that announced SpaceX's acquisition of xAI.
He reinforced that belief on Feb. 11 in an all-hands meeting with xAI staff, video of which the company posted on X. Musk said that, while launching AI satellites from Earth is the immediate focus, SpaceX's new Starship megarocket will also enable operations on other worlds.
"Thanks to advancements like in-space propellant transfer," Musk wrote in the Feb. 2 update, "Starship will be capable of landing massive amounts of cargo on the moon. Once there, it will be possible to establish a permanent presence for scientific and manufacturing pursuits."
Factories on the moon can take advantage of lunar resources to manufacture satellites and deploy them into space, Musk added.
"By using an electromagnetic mass driver and lunar manufacturing," he wrote, "it is possible to put 500 to 1000 TW/year [terawatts per year] of AI satellites into deep space, meaningfully ascend the Kardashev scale and harness a non-trivial percentage of the sun’s power."
Musk isn't the first person to propose the use of mass drivers — which are basically railguns — on the moon. He's following in the footsteps of space visionary Gerard O'Neill, who floated the idea back in 1974.
"Mass drivers" based on a coilgun design can be adapted to accelerate a non-magnetic object. One application O'Neill proposed for mass drivers: toss baseball-sized chunks of ore mined from the surface of the moon into space. Once in space, the ore could be used as raw material for building space colonies and solar power satellites...
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RE: Elon Musk revives ancient ballistic concept for launching from Moon (history future) - Syne - Feb 19, 2026
Aw, catapult sounded so much more fun than an electromagnetic railgun.