Silicon Valley startup plans to catapult rockets into space

SpinLaunch Inc. has gathered $40 million from big technology investors like Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Airbus Ventures to build a kinetic energy-powered machine to hurl rockets into space. Detailed plans will be revealed on June 21, 2018, although the name itself gives away the basic idea; using kinetic energy to spin a rocket in a circle at up to 5,000 miles per hour and let it go. SpinLaunch will be a simpler and less-expensive rocket that’s more efficient at delivering satellites into orbit.