at unit efficiency, a velocity of 10 km/s for a 10-ton projectile as a function of accelerator length are shown in Fig. 1. The lower length limit is set by the maximum projectile strength, the upper limit being that corresponding to an acceleration that would allow people to enter space by direct launch. K.E. Tsiolkovsky considered the length of the accelerators and the relatively low accelerations and powers (the light arrow in Fig. 1). But in practice, electromagnetic acceleration technology development started with extremely high accelerations and powers (the black arrow in Fig. 1). Even before World War II, numerous suggestions were made for linear electric accelerators, mainly of the inductive type. But to supply such an accelerator with the needed energy, the electric power station (5-10 GW or more) must include a transformer guaranteeinga smooth change of frequency from about 100s'1 to 10,000s' Such a transformer is unknown in current electrical engineering technology.
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