Lunar Electromagnetic Mass Accelerator (LEMMA): An Initial Concept Assessment

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) plans to return to the Moon in 2025–2028 under the Artemis program, followed by establishment of a permanent lunar base by 2028–2032. This will be followed by future manned missions to Mars and exploration of the solar system. To support those objectives, the Gateway space station will be placed in a Near-Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO) orbiting between the L2 Lagrange libration point beyond the Moon and the lunar south pole. The Gateway will be the intermediate supply station for future missions. Because of low lunar gravity, it should be much less expensive to supply lunar-derived water, fuel, and materials from the Moon to the Gateway than from the Earth. The lunar escape velocity (
$\sim 2400$
m/s) is within the range achieved by the recent U.S. Navy railgun program. An initial evaluation of a lunar-based electromagnetic launcher (EML) railgun capable of delivering lunar-derived liquid hydrogen or lunar ice to the Gateway for fuel for a nuclear-reactor-powered Mars mission is provided here.