Editing Mass driver (section)

{{Short description|Proposed spacelaunch method}}
[[Image:Lunar base concept drawing s78 23252.jpg|thumb|300px|Artist's conception of a mass driver on the [[Moon]]]]

A '''mass driver''' or '''electromagnetic catapult''' is a proposed method of [[non-rocket spacelaunch]] which would use a [[linear motor]] to [[Acceleration|accelerate]] and catapult [[Payload (air and space craft)|payloads]] up to high speeds. Existing and proposed mass drivers use coils of wire energized by electricity to make [[electromagnet]]s, though a rotary mass driver has also been proposed.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pearson |first=J. |date=1980-01-16 |title=ASTEROID RETRIEVAL BY ROTARY ROCKET |url=http://www.star-tech-inc.com/papers/asteroids/asteroids.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.star-tech-inc.com/papers/asteroids/asteroids.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |access-date=2021-10-18 |website=AIAA}} {{Dead link|date=January 2024}}</ref> Sequential firing of a row of electromagnets accelerates the payload along a path. After leaving the path, the payload continues to move due to [[momentum]].

Although any device used to propel a [[Ballistics|ballistic]] payload is technically a mass driver, in this context a mass driver is essentially a [[coilgun]] that magnetically accelerates a package consisting of a magnetizable holder containing a payload. Once the payload has been accelerated, the two separate, and the holder is slowed and recycled for another payload.

Mass drivers can be used to propel spacecraft in three different ways: A large, ground-based mass driver could launch spacecraft away from Earth, the [[Moon]], or another body. A small mass driver could act as a rocket engine on board a spacecraft, flinging pieces of material into space to propel itself. Another variation would have a massive facility on a moon or asteroid send projectiles to assist a distant craft.

Miniaturized mass drivers can also be [[Coilgun#Uses|used as weapons]] in a similar manner as classic firearms or cannon using chemical combustion. Hybrids between coilguns and [[railgun]]s such as [[helical railgun]]s are also possible.<ref>{{cite web |author=Kolm, H. |display-authors=etal |title=Electromagnetic Guns, Launchers, and Reaction Engines |publisher=MIT |date=1980 |url=http://www.coilgun.info/theorymath/electroguns.htm}}</ref>