Where the cargo goes

One slug's journey through the MMM architecture — ground gun to deep space. Sections cited from the published study.

Gun Line — coilgun freight (bulk mass) Beam Line — maglev + laser-thermal (delicate cargo) Water / steam-tug loop (in orbit)
DEEP SPACE LOW EARTH ORBIT · ~$150/kg delivered (band ×2–3, item 22 open) ATMOSPHERE GROUND · mountain exit ≈ 4 km altitude Coilgun track 4.9 km · 1,000 g · 9.8 km/s muzzle (§5.1) escape variant: 8.7 km · 13.05 km/s 48–85 GJ/shot · 20+ shots/day at 26–40 MW continuous Maglev + laser array 6.8 km evacuated track · 30 g · 2.0 km/s exit (§5.2) laser adds 6.8 km/s · Isp 900 · 475 MW beam · 462 s crewed variant: 38 km track · 3 g · 3.8 GW (§5.3) ① punches the whole atmosphere in seconds toll: ~516 m/s + ~1 kg ablator (§3) ② coast to apogee, then the onboard 190 kg kick circularizes → stable LEO (§5.1) Direct-escape variant (§5.1) 8.7 km track · 13.05 km/s skips LEO, no kick stage S-670 slug · 670 kg relay mirror delicate cargo rides at 30 g; payload fraction 21% vs ~2% chemical relay carries the back half of the burn; 0.75 ± 0.02 of beam power delivered (§6.2) ③ arrives LEO 1,065 kg payload Depot — LEO water depot (§5.4) ④ passive docking at ~0 m/s relative — nothing is “caught” at speed water slugs drain to common tanks; dry cargo aggregates into assembled ships ⑤ 8 beamed-steam tugs · Isp 400 — the same ground laser fires at perigee; water is both cargo and fuel tugs return & reload Moon 3-day transit · daily windows (§11.2) steam braking · toll 0.24 kg water/kg (to lunar orbit) Mars aerocapture at 5.7 km/s — air brakes, no fuel ~1,300 t per window at 5,000 shots/yr (§11.1) Venus & beyond forgiving aerocapture; outer planets via gravity assists / tug Oberth kicks (§11.2) Escape solar orbit

Slug baseline S-630 (§12.1): 180 kg reentry-hardened shell + 190 kg circularization propellant → ~630 kg net cargo in LEO — water, cryogens, metals, propellant, artillery-grade electronics (§5.1). Doctrine note: physics figures as published; all $/kg are bands ×2–3 wide with honest midpoints until item 22 closes each figure.