Jules Verne's 160-Year-Old Prediction Comes True with Super Cannon

A New Approach to Space Travel

In a quiet corner of a former naval base near San Francisco Bay, engineers are conducting an unusual experiment. They are firing metal projectiles faster than the speed of sound—repeatedly. There is no rocket fuel, no launchpad flame, and no countdown. Just a deep mechanical hum, a blast of compressed gas, and a thunderclap that echoes across the hangar walls.

This sounds more like experimental artillery than aerospace engineering. However, the team behind it insists this platform isn't built for war—it's built for orbit. The goal is to create a foundational shift in how we access space. If this method works, it could change the economics that have kept rockets at the center of every satellite mission and rewrite the rules for who gets to build in space, and at what cost.

The idea itself isn't new. In 1865, Jules Verne imagined a giant cannon called the Columbiad that could launch a crewed capsule to the Moon. It was science fiction then—decades before powered flight. Today, in a California hangar, that once-fantastical concept is being engineered into steel.

A New Path to Orbit—Without Rockets

The company behind the effort, Longshot Space Technologies, isn’t trying to build a better rocket. Instead, they're aiming to eliminate rockets altogether—for cargo, at least. Their approach, known as kinetic space launch, trades combustion for brute mechanical force: a ground-based cannon that fires satellites and other payloads into orbit using only compressed gas.

At full scale, Longshot’s launch system would stretch 40 kilometers—making it the longest gun ever built. Instead of stacking fuel tanks on top of guidance systems, the platform uses a series of pressurized chambers to accelerate projectiles through the barrel at extreme speeds. The goal is to reach Mach 23, or nearly 28,400 km/h, fast enough to insert objects into low Earth orbit with the help of a small onboard motor.

According to the company’s technical brief, the project has already cleared its early milestones. A smaller prototype cannon—just under 20 meters—has been fired more than 100 times, reaching speeds over Mach 4.2. A 37-meter barrel is under construction to scale up tests.

Longshot claims it can deliver cargo to orbit for $10 per kilogram. That figure would undercut SpaceX’s most affordable rates by more than 99%, and if achieved at scale, it could permanently alter the economics of satellite launch and space logistics.

The Brutal Physics of Kinetic Launch

The dream of firing objects into space isn’t new. Project HARP in the 1960s used repurposed naval artillery to test suborbital launches, and the concept has appeared in science fiction for over a century. But no one has yet built a system that can withstand the heat, drag, and structural loads of actual orbital insertion.

At hypersonic speeds, air resistance is no small obstacle. As outlined in Wikipedia’s “Space Gun” entry, a projectile moving at Mach 23 would experience surface temperatures over 1,600°C, enough to melt or deform most materials. Longshot addresses this with ablative shells—sacrificial outer layers that burn away during ascent, protecting the payload inside.

Acceleration is another challenge. Even with a 40-kilometer barrel, a projectile could be subjected to forces exceeding 10,000 g. This makes the system unusable for human spaceflight or delicate scientific instruments—but well suited for hardened cargo like solar panels, propellants, metals, batteries, and construction materials.

The system is designed to separate cargo from crew. Rockets, Longshot argues, should be reserved for astronauts and critical payloads. Everything else can ride a shockwave.

Military Interest and Silicon Valley Money

The U.S. military has already taken notice. Longshot has secured $3 million in contracts from the U.S. Air Force, aimed at developing hypersonic testing infrastructure. The platform’s ability to rapidly fire test payloads at extreme speeds could help the Pentagon evaluate new materials, systems, and defense applications at a fraction of today’s cost.

Longshot operates out of a former U.S. Navy site in Alameda, California, once used to test missile defense systems. The location offers the kind of controlled infrastructure required for early-stage development. The company is also pursuing approvals for a larger range near Tonopah, Nevada, which would allow for high-altitude launches and more favorable atmospheric conditions.

Private investment has followed. Longshot’s website lists Sam Altman, Draper Associates, Starship Ventures, and other major venture capital players as backers—many of them already deep in space and defense tech.

In a recent blog post, “How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Burn,” the company frames its work as part of a broader strategy: enabling the future of space industry, not just spaceflight. Building orbital infrastructure, powering off-Earth mining, and deploying megastructures will all require a different kind of logistics system—one that’s cheap, fast, and scalable.