The Launch Project

The Launch Project (or simply Launch) was a project ostensibly begun in 182, though early planning began all the way back in the late 160s, to launch two smaller copies of the System in opposite directions out of the Solar System. These two Launch Vehicles (LVs) were named Castor and Pollux, and the System remaining at the Earth-Moon L₅ point was renamed Lagrange. Reasons for the project ranged from exploration to preservation. It was one of the first large cooperative efforts between sys- and phys-side since the System's inception.

The two LVs were launched via tangential velocity by being released from the ends of launch arms attached to the rotating Lagrange Station. These launch arms were made of an unspecified material with incredible tensile strength, allowing them to be approximately 5,000 kilometers long. At that rate of rotation, the LVs were released at a velocity of approximately 1,300km/s. Despite the angular velocity amounting to 3,800 gravities (well past "raspberry jam ΔV"), the fact that there were no physical bodies aboard the LVs had little impact on them. Additionally, the launch was timed such that each LV had the chance to slingshot around the gas giants Jupiter and Saturn.

Gallery

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  An overview of the Launch setup. The innermost cylinder is Lagrange, the outer ring the L₅ station, the square is the solar array, and the two launch arms radiate from the station. The outer ring aids in visualization but was not included in the construction.

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  Artistic rendition of Launch by Iris Jay.

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