Couldn’t object fired from a railgun be “Caught” with a similar apparatus?
This is how maglev trains brake and some of the designs for the new Hyperloop propose to keep power needs low.
If you want it to leave the rail, wouldn’t it need to be really accurate in order to be caught? Like sliding a bullet on a railroad track at x distance?
Could a rail gun fire an object into outer space?
Not unless they get a lot better. It just doesn’t go fast enough for escape velocity.
Also, how long is the rail? You’re looking to accelerate something in that span alone, it has to be able to handle that level of acceleration. Proposed railguns fire “slugs” partially because they can handle the acceleration.
I don’t think we have any piece of the technology needed at this point.