The inventors of the world’s first superconducting maglev system tell how magnetic levitation can revolutionize world transportation, and even carry payloads into space. Artist’s illustration of StarTram, a magnetically levitated low-pressure tube, which can guide spacecraft into the upper atmosphere.
The same technology used in magnetically levitated ("maglev") trains may give spaceships a low-cost, stable boost for the future of space travel—possibly even for joy rides. A research group from two universities in Beijing, China has constructed a maglev test vehicle that works on a model track made of a permanent magnet-high temperature superconductor.
Another magnetic levitation track is up and running at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. This continuation of NASA's research in magnetic levitation, called maglev, could give launch vehicles a "running start" to break free from Earth's gravity.
Consider a typical space shuttle launch. The orbiter is so huge that only enormous engines can break it free from Earth's gravity. Big engines, in turn, demand a lot of fuel. So technicians bolt an extra tank and two booster rockets to the orbiter, point the whole contrivance straight up, and fire the engines.