machine evolution

The mission survived. The mechanisms kept losing arguments.

VOLLEY began in 2021 around a coilgun. In 2023 the host became a spent upper stage. By mid-2025 the mechanism became a linear synchronous motor. In 2026 the stage itself became part of the machine. The current architecture is open again.

Gen4
Gen4

Hand-modelled

High visual detail, low reproducibility. No committed STEP export and known geometry/analysis disagreement.

Gen5
Gen5 · frozen

Electromagnetic baseline

Reproducible generated CAD. 16.029 m/s at the reference point, but 126.6 kg dry and a failed 3U mass comparison.

Existing Gen6
Existing Gen6 · comparator

Stage-integrated gas guide

Deleted much of the dedicated machine, but inherited unresolved contact/release physics and accommodation assumptions.

current redesign

No mechanism render.

The next architecture is not being marketed before it is selected. The current work compares payload arrangement and actuator families under common mission requirements; the existing gas guide stays in the trade with its failures intact.

why generations changed

Selected failures are part of the lineage.

Selected project failures