Lunar Mass Driver: Design Sprint for Regolith Sample Return

Context

Helion Lunar Industries operates a regolith processing facility at Shackleton Crater's rim. Every 14 Earth days, they accumulate 200–400 kg of processed rare-earth concentrate that must reach the L2 Gateway station for transshipment to Earth. Current chemical rocket transfers cost $180,000 per launch and require propellant resupply from Earth—an increasingly untenable logistics chain.

Your engineering group has been tasked with a feasibility sprint: design a linear electromagnetic mass driver capable of launching standardized payload canisters from the lunar surface to a catch trajectory for Gateway rendezvous. The CEO wants a concept decision by end of week. You have six hours.

Your Goal

Deliver a preliminary design concept for a lunar mass driver system that can reliably launch 50 kg payload canisters at 2.4 km/s (lunar escape velocity plus margin). Your concept must be defensible to the review board—not a finished design, but a credible trade study with clear rationale for your architecture choices.