A Momentum-Exchange Rotovator for Low Orbit Pickup: Tip-Speed, Capture Energy and Reboost Budgets

This study sizes the system named in its title from stated physical relations and a stated operating basis, and reports the result as SIMULATED, NOT MEASURED. The operating principle is momentum-exchange rotating tether that trades angular momentum for payload velocity. The rotovator is a civilian orbital transport system intended to move cargo and crewed rendezvous vehicles between orbits; it carries no payload other than transport cargo and rendezvous equipment. Every performance figure is computed by the deposited script from its inputs rather than asserted, and the headline outcomes include hub orbital velocity of 7672.6 metres per second; tip speed relative to the hub of 2500 metres per second; payload velocity gain per exchange after capture losses of 4600 metres per second; peak hub tension with the design payload attached of 3.02 meganewtons. Mass, power, time and energy budgets are assembled from components so they can be audited line by line, off-design behaviour is discussed openly, and the limits of the sizing are stated in full. The design is presented as a civilian system throughout, with its governing constraint identified and quantified rather than merely encountered.