supergun

Rockets are the tried and true workhorses for launching payloads into space. But that could change, if a physicist realizes his vision for a 1.1-kilometer-long (0.7 mi) gun that could fire cargo into low Earth orbit.

The new supergun concept could fire payloads of 450 kilograms (990 lbs) at more than 13,000 mph, according to John Hunter, a physicist who formerly worked at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California.