Mass driver (Earth-5875)

The mass driver is an United Nations Space Command weapon system developed for orbital attack. It operates near identically as the Magnetic Accelerator Canon (MAC): a coilgun able to magnetically accelerate a magnetizable holder, which contains a payload.

Description
A mass driver is a space-launch method which utilizes a linear motor to accelerate payloads at high speed velocities. All mass drives utilized by the UNSC utilizes coils of wire energized by electricity to generate electromagnets. The sequential firing of an electromagnet row accelerate the payload along a specific path. After it leaves the barrel, the payload continues traveling duo to inertia, and once it has been accelerated, the two separate, with the holder being slowed down and cycled for the next payload.

History
Shanxi featured mass drivers designed to firing nuclear waste into Shanxi's sun, Epsilon Indi, and was used in solstice celebrations across the planet. During the First Battle of Shanxi, one of the drivers was used to fire against the Covenant ship Rapid Conversion. Later, the synthetic Loki used a mass driver to destroy the Tiara, one of Shanxi's space stations.