Mass Driver

From the The Gundam Wiki, the ultimate guide to Gundam

A Mass Driver or electromagnetic catapult is a proposed method of non-rocket spacelaunch that would use a linear motor to accelerate and catapult payloads up to high speeds. In Gundam series, it used mostly to send people and materials from a planet into space. They appear in numerous timelines.

Universal Century

Mass Drivers are loacted both on Earth and on the Moon to propel spacecrafts containing both people and materials into space.

After War

Only one mass drivers appears in the series which is located at a military base which is under control of a rebel organization fighting against the New United Nations Earth. This mass drivers is used to send the Freeden II into space.

Cosmic Era

In this timeline, all mass drivers are built around the equator and often protected by large armies. Facilities containing mass drivers include the Victoria Base, the Panama Spaceport and the Orb Union's Kaguya mass driver. During the first war, these mass drivers were major attack targets of ZAFT, to prevent the Earth Alliance from sending weaponry and people to space. Several mass drivers are destroyed during the war, but eventually rebuilt afterwards.