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It's frustrating that many of these alternative approaches to accessing space (e.g. the space elevator) are "all or nothing", i.e. they require a massive invest
by chriswarbo 11y ago
It's frustrating that many of these alternative approaches to accessing space (e.g. the space elevator) are "all or nothing", i.e. they require a massive investment just for performing preliminary experiments. Rockets (and to some extent space guns) can be built up incrementally, in range and capacity, which is probably a major reason they're so far ahead.
I'm not sure if miniature launch loops would be viable (i.e. self-supporting), but it should certainly be possible to build a space fountain up from the ground, at a very small scale. I'm still waiting to see it done though :(
- drpgq 11y agoMaybe this would be a project Gulf countries could blow their money on rather than supertall buildings.
- zeckalpha 11y agoMaybe the supertall buildings are designed to be adapted into space elevators? See also: Empire state building as dirigible mooring station.
- scotty79 11y agoIf they want to go higher they'll have to do something brave at some point: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_fountain https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_fountain
- JoeAltmaier 11y agoThat may be underestimating the cost of a loop by three or four orders of magnitude.
- Gravityloss 11y agoI think there have been space tourism projects pitched to Dubai and Saudi Arabia, but they haven't taken off. It would be one natural path towards actual spacefaring.