Methods of accelerating a target vehicle to a higher orbit via a Kinetic Energy Storage and Transfer (KEST) vehicle are provided. The KEST vehicle is configured to transfer kinetic energy to the target vehicle by way of a catching mechanism using one or more brakes on one or more associated tethers along which the braking mechanism traverses, accelerating the target vehicle into a higher orbit, potentially even beyond the Earth.
Keywords: kinetic energy, storage, launch
International Class: B64G1/64, B64G1/00, B64G1/24, B64G1/40, B64G1/36