Longshot, an aerospace startup founded in 2021, is building a ground-based kinetic launch system designed to fire payloads—such as satellites—into low Earth orbit at dramatically reduced cost compared to conventional rockets. The company’s stated mission is to deliver orbital launch prices far below today’s standards.

The system, sometimes referred to as a “space gun,” uses a multi-stage accelerator to propel payloads at extreme speeds. Longshot recently leased a former U.S. Navy indoor cannon testing facility in Alameda Point to serve as its primary development and testing site. The reinforced complex, once used for evaluating weapons like the Phalanx system, will now support construction and trials of a massive next-generation prototype: a 30-inch-diameter, 120-foot-long accelerator expected to become the largest operational cannon ever built.

Figure 1. Space Gun.

According to the company, the system is engineered to gradually accelerate a projectile to near-orbital velocities using staged gas injections—an approach inspired by both the multi-charge V-3 cannon of World War II and Jules Verne’s 1865 novel From the Earth to the Moon [1]. Instead of explosives, compressed gas charges activate sequentially along the barrel, pushing payloads to hypersonic speeds before exiting just above the horizon.

To ultimately achieve orbit, the system would require speeds around Mach 23, with only a small onboard booster needed for final insertion. The technology is intended solely for unmanned payloads. Figure 1 shows Space Gun.

Rapid progress and strong investor backing

Longshot has conducted more than 100 test launches at its original Oakland site, most recently surpassing Mach 4. Those results have attracted funding from the U.S. Air Force SBIR program and a $4 million round led by investors including Starship Ventures, Draper Associates, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

The company is awaiting approval to begin building a full-scale launch facility near Tonopah Regional Airport in Nevada. Plans call for a steel tube with a three-foot internal diameter stretching more than half a kilometer, equipped with multiple gas injection stages. The location could also support potential defense applications, including hypersonic countermeasure testing due to its proximity to the Nevada Test Site.

While current testing remains ground-based, Longshot aims to move toward high-altitude demonstrations and eventually orbital launches.

The company’s long-term vision is to create a rapid-launch, infrastructure-based alternative to rockets—one that dramatically lowers per-launch costs and helps meet growing global demand for satellite deployment.

Reference:

1. https://interestingengineering.com/space/longshot-to-launch-satellites-using-space-gun

Cite this article:

Keerthana S (2025), US Company Developing ‘Space Gun’ Capable of Launching Satellites, AnaTechMaz, pp.660