Neodymium Iron Boron Magnets for Launch Sleds

http://e-magnetsuk.com/neodymium_magnets/neodymium_grades.aspx

An N52 magnet has a maximum energy product of 50 mega-gauss Oersteds, which is 50*7958kJ/m3 or 398 MJ/m³ . the density is 7.5, so that works out to 53 kJ/kg.

A high strength NIB magnet should be kept below 80C; launch loop magnet sleds should be refrigerated, perhaps to liquid nitrogen temperatures, before use, as they will be heated by hypersonic passage through the thin upper atmosphere. Some grades (N38 EH) can tolerate 200C, but are 36 mega-gauss Oersteds, 38 kJ/kg.

A reusable launch sled containing one tonne of NIB might be 10 square meters and 1.3 cm thick, 38 MJ. Derate by a factor of 4, and assume 20% flux efficiency in a gap 4 centimeters across. That is 2 cubic meters of effective flux area filled with 4.75 MJ of energy per cubic meter. B² = 2 μ₀ × 4.75e6 = π × 8e-7 × 4.75e6, B = 3.4 Tesla???

If the one tonne sled is pushing itself and 5 tonnes of payload with an acceleration of 30 m/s², the total thrust on the sled is 150 KN, or 15 KN/m².