James Fiske

The article Huge “launch ring” to fling satellites into orbit said

An enormous ring of superconducting magnets similar to a particle accelerator could fling satellites into space, or perhaps weapons around the world, suggest the findings of a new study funded by the US air force…
 
The air force has now given the go-ahead for more in-depth research of the idea. The two-year study will begin within a few weeks and be led by James Fiske of LaunchPoint Technologies in Goleta, California, US…
 
Anything launched in this way would have to be able to survive enormous accelerations — more than 2000 times the acceleration due to gravity (2000 G). This would seem to be an obstacle for launching things like communications satellites, but Fiske points out that the US military uses electronics in laser-guided artillery, which survive being fired out of guns at up to 20,000 G.

James Fiske is Vice President, Advanced Systems at LaunchPoint Technologies.
 
Jim joined the LaunchPoint Technologies team in 2000 in a partnership between Magtube and LaunchPoint to develop a revolutionary maglev vehicle system. He conceptualized a new class of maglev freight transportation, created the initial design, applied for patents, raised $2M in venture funding from CrossPoint Venture Partners, and oversaw development and construction of a full-scale maglev vehicle. He has since discovered several other promising applications of breakthrough maglev technology.
 
Before founding Magtube, he was cofounder and VP of Advanced Development at Quad Design Technology, a provider of leading-edge computer-assisted engineering software; a Principal Architect of a mini-supercomputer designed to exploit ultra-high-speed gallium arsenide integrated circuits at Vitesse Electronics; and a Senior member of the Technical Staff and lead designer of high performance digital signal processing systems at Hughes Aircraft Company. He currently holds five patents, three of which involve maglev technologies.
 
Currently Jim is also adapting maglev technology to energy storage and space launch, and is funded by the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research. He is an outstanding speaker and writer, and very much a scholar of maglev applications. He received his Electrical Engineering & Computer Science degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1978.
 
Jim coauthored The Launch Ring — Circular EM Accelerators for Low Cost Orbital Launch.
 
Read his LinkedIn profile.