That's not entirely fair. Same guy that came up with it came up with this, and the basis for Gerald Bull's notions were entirely factual. These things were used to moderate effect in WWII and my own grandfather worked on this thing. The point was to threaten Israel. It worked; Israel felt threatened enough that they had him whacked outside his apartment. That's why it didn't get further, not technical challenges. When your chief scientist ends up ventilated on the street in Brussels you lose some steam. Dude really wanted to shoot a satellite into orbit and he'd do anything for anybody that gave him access to the toys. There's a lesson there.
According to the Wikipedia page (man, I do hate writing those words but I don't have the time to dig up better source), Bull was rubbed out for agreeing to improve the more practical aspects of the Iraqi missile delivery system- I.e. the re-entry vehicle for SCUD missiles- not the gun, which, by all the accounts I could find, was hilariously ineffective by any measurable standard. Baby babylon was "not considered a risk by Israel," and big babylon was useless as artillery. Seems like it was never tested as a space gun, as the prototype was poorly designed. And had it succeeded, it would have been useless as well, as its deployment method was easily monitored. How bonkers was this guy though, huh? Obsessed with shooting things into space with a big gun no matter what the cost. I'm sure there's a Cheap Freudian joke to be made here, but I'm not gonna be the one. Oops
Fair enough. My grasp of Israeli regional politics is shaky at best. Too fraught with unknown unknowns. Certainly not strong enough to make many points past gallows humor. Big-ass gun trained in your general direction is bound to raise eyebrows.