HOUSTON, TX, August 20, 2026 (EZ Newswire) -- Saturn Aerospace announces plans to develop its ground-based space launch system, a proposed alternative architecture designed to reduce the cost and preparation involved in transporting people and payloads beyond Earth. Led by CEO and owner Thomas Roller, the company is evaluating potential locations in Mexico and China as it prepares for the engineering, regulatory, and site development work required to move the concept forward.
The announcement comes as commercial interest in space continues to expand. A report from McKinsey & Company and the World Economic Forum estimated that the global space economy could grow from $630 billion in 2023 to $1.8 trillion by 2035. Meanwhile, PwC reported in 2025 that commercial revenues represented almost 80% of space-industry activity as of July 2024.
Although the total price of a rocket launch varies considerably by vehicle, payload, and destination, University of Cambridge researchers calculated that sending cargo into low Earth orbit cost an average of $3,868 per kilogram in 2025. That figure, Roller believes, illustrates why reducing transportation costs remains important to the development of commercial activity in space.
Saturn Aerospace aims to participate in that growth by reimagining how spacecraft receive their initial acceleration. Instead of depending entirely on a conventional rocket launched vertically from the ground, the company’s concept would use rocket-powered sleds traveling through a vacuum tube constructed along a mountain slope. The system is designed to provide much of the required acceleration before onboard propulsion is activated, creating a foundation for potentially faster launch preparation and more frequent missions.
“The biggest opportunity is reducing the cost of reaching space enough to support activities that remain financially difficult today,” Roller said. “When transportation becomes more affordable and repeatable, companies can begin planning around sustained operations rather than treating every launch as an exceptional event.”
According to Roller, current plans describe a track approximately 20 miles long, with between 16 and 18 miles enclosed within a vacuum tube. The remaining section would gradually reintroduce air before the pod leaves the track. Roller envisions keeping acceleration near four times the force of gravity during passenger missions, which the company believes could make the architecture suitable for future space tourism and crew transportation.
Under the planned configuration, two rocket sleds would accelerate a separate pod sled carrying a capsule, cargo, and any additional propulsion required for the mission. The supporting sleds would separate in stages, allowing the pod to continue along its intended trajectory. Saturn Aerospace expects to reuse equipment wherever practical and plans to produce liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen using electricity generated partly through an onsite solar installation.
Preliminary facility plans include several payload categories. Smaller configurations are expected to carry between 1,000 and 5,000 pounds, while the largest are planned to carry as much as 20,000 pounds. This range is intended to accommodate missions involving CubeSats, larger satellites, scientific equipment, supplies, spaceplanes, and passenger capsules. The specifications will be refined through further engineering analysis and testing.
Saturn Aerospace sees launch economics as central to the system’s commercial potential. Greater affordability and frequency could support satellite deployment, microgravity research, orbital manufacturing and equipment delivery. Roller also identifies agriculture, weather forecasting, ocean monitoring, communications, medical research and environmental observation among the fields that could benefit from expanded satellite capacity.
“Space factories, hotels and resource projects require more than one successful launch,” Roller explained. “They require an affordable transportation network that can move equipment, supplies and people repeatedly. The market develops when access becomes dependable enough for businesses to build continuing operations around it.”
The company’s longer-term vision extends to commercial space stations, tourism, satellite servicing, debris removal and resource exploration. Saturn Aerospace believes its proposed architecture could help organizations consider projects that are difficult to pursue when transportation represents a substantial portion of their cost and operational planning.
Turning that vision into an operational facility will involve several development stages. According to Roller, Saturn Aerospace’s startup plans identify route surveys, geological assessments, environmental reviews, engineering studies, and regulatory documentation among the necessary early steps. He notes that more detailed design work for the tube, track, sleds, capsule interfaces, and supporting facilities would follow, alongside construction planning and progressively larger testing programs.
Location will be especially important because the system requires a long and relatively consistent mountain slope, access to roads and utilities, and a launch path that avoids populated areas. Roller says possible sites in Mexico and China have been examined, although the eventual location will require comprehensive geological, environmental, infrastructure, and regulatory evaluation.
The Federal Aviation Administration recorded its 1,000th licensed or permitted commercial space operation in August 2025, demonstrating the growing pace of commercial activity. Saturn Aerospace is entering that evolving landscape with a concept that seeks to expand the industry’s understanding of how future launch infrastructure could operate.
“Our goal is to create the transportation foundation that future commercial activity in space will need,” Roller said. “There is still substantial engineering and testing ahead, but developing a more accessible launch system could open opportunities across science, communications, manufacturing and human spaceflight.”
About Saturn Aerospace
Saturn Aerospace is on a mission to revolutionize space travel and exploration by providing a safer, faster, easier, and more affordable way to launch humans, materials, satellites, and spaceplanes into space. Its groundbreaking non-rocket Space Launch System (SLS) leverages proven technologies to provide a green, cost-effective alternative to traditional rocket launches. For more information, visit saturnspacelaunchsystem.com.
Media Contact
Thomas Roller
tar432@att.net
