How do you get something into space without a rocket?

That is an excellent question and probably the first answer was probably first depicted in one of the 1st movies created back in 1902. 

The idea in the movie, was to create a giant gun. Then you would take your spaceship (A giant Hollow. Bullet.) and shoot it into space. A great idea, but not too practical for human beings. In order to create enough escape velocity, the G forces would be so high that it would turn anybody inside the shell into Jelly. Even in 1902 movie makers were not interested in reality.

Longshot Space has a much better idea, and the main thrust of that idea is to make it much cheaper per kilogram to shoot something into orbit. OK the most current (and cheapest) numbers available are from SpaceX currently running at approximately $1500 a kilogram. Then comes the Russian space program at about $4500 a kilogram. Then the Chinese space program, which comes in at about $7500 a kilogram. 

Longshot Space claims that when their technology is mature, they can deliver an unbelievable $10 per kilogram. And when we say shoot something into orbit, we really mean shoot. Longshot space is designing and creating a giant cannon. The current test bed in Oakland is capable of shooting a package. (A small package.) At speeds up to Mach 4.6. If they want to go any faster than that, they've got to get a longer tube, so they're moving their operations to Nevada. The system pretty much runs just like a Canon, except it runs in stages. Like a rocket booster system. 

according to msn.com,
‘Longshot’s architecture works in two ways: the first is by using an accelerant gas to push a plate (and the payload) forward using multiple injections, and by squeezing the payload from the sides. But the company will be able to get to upwards of Mach 7 speeds without any squeezing, so this first system in Nevada will just be a multi-injection gun with a 30-inch diameter, so the company can start moving payloads as quickly as possible.’   

They are raising new funds in order to build a 500-meter cannon That will push 100-kilogram payloads up to Mach 5. This undertaking takes lots of money and they're getting it from a lot of different sources, including the government but one of the key things to keep in mind here, this is not a system that would be used for transporting any kind of organic life. The acceleration is staggering somewhere in the range of 500 to 600 G's.

Now this is just the beginning of the research and also really just the beginning of the funding. In order to have the ability to send slightly more delicate, (still not human.) Payloads they would have to have a cannon approximately 25 Kilometers long. That would get the acceleration down to about 250 G’s. 

This could turn out to be a very good idea, and a very profitable one if realized. 

So, am I'm going to invest in it.? 

No way. I'll stick with the bank. 

Longshot Space closes over $5M in new funding to build space gun in the desert (msn.com)