Nooo we don't need to use rockets! We can just use electromagnetic launch loops that are 80 kilometers tall and 2,000 kilometers long, or build a tower that goes all the way into space and is supported by an equally tall particle accelerator, or build an extremely vulnerable space elevator out of unobtainium, or simply build two tethers that dangle off of a 36,000 kilometer long superconducting cable rotating at 8km/s in low-Earth orbit! I mean, capitalism is famous for investing in capital-intensive long-term endeavors, right? It's not like the state always has to take on projects costing tens of billions of dollars let alone the trillions necessary for this scale, right?
The launch loop doesn't have to go all the way into space.
Why not build a really fast maglev up mt Chimborazo and use it to fling a rocket with some ablative tiles fast enough that you can use a much smaller rocket with less fuel?
Nooo we don't need to use rockets! We can just use electromagnetic launch loops that are 80 kilometers tall and 2,000 kilometers long, or build a tower that goes all the way into space and is supported by an equally tall particle accelerator, or build an extremely vulnerable space elevator out of unobtainium, or simply build two tethers that dangle off of a 36,000 kilometer long superconducting cable rotating at 8km/s in low-Earth orbit! I mean, capitalism is famous for investing in capital-intensive long-term endeavors, right? It's not like the state always has to take on projects costing tens of billions of dollars let alone the trillions necessary for this scale, right?
The launch loop doesn't have to go all the way into space.
Why not build a really fast maglev up mt Chimborazo and use it to fling a rocket with some ablative tiles fast enough that you can use a much smaller rocket with less fuel?