Electromagnetic Rail Lunar Launch System (EMRLLS): Architecture and Performance Trade Space for Lunar-Surface-to-Orbit Logistics

This repository contains a submitted pre-print of the manuscript "Electromagnetic Rail Lunar Launch System (EMRLLS): Part 1 – infrastructure Architecture, and First-Order Performance Envelope," currently under peer review at Acta Astronautica. The study develops a first-order analytical framework for evaluating rail-based electromagnetic launch infrastructure as a potential component of future, lunar surface-to-orbit logistics architectures. Using lumped-parameter modeling, the analysis derives scaling relationships linking payload mass, allowable acceleration, rail length, exit velocity, system efficiency, power requirements, and operational cadence. Results establish an initial feasibility envelope for infrastructure-scale electromagnetic launch systems operating on the lunar surface and identify the dominant engineering constraints governing throughput and cadence. This preprint represents the version of the manuscript submitted for journal review. A subsequent study (Part II) will extend the framework through mission-coupled modeling and computational trade studies implemented in MATLAB and Python.