[wrnu]

This reminds me of the "Supergun" that Gerald Bull [2] was trying to build with Saddam Hussein [1].

One of my professors, that worked with Bull at the University of Toronto, told me all about his arms dealing/designing escapades. Bull was ultimately assassinated outside his home in Brussels.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Babylon [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Bull

[philsnow]

I heard about Bull in the book Soonish [0], which has a whole chapter on cheap access to space. Readers of this thread might be interested in it.

[0] https://smbc-comics.com/soonish/

[toomanybeersies]

Before he was working with Iraq, he worked on Project HARP, which was funded by the USA and Canada.

They did managed to get a projectile to space. They had plans to try and get one to orbit, using a rocket as a second stage, but the project was cancelled before that came to fruition.