I would imagine spaceflight would be much cheaper, more reusable, and widespread in general - space elevators would be much easier to construct, as would fully

I would imagine spaceflight would be much cheaper, more reusable, and widespread in general - space elevators would be much easier to construct, as would fully reusable SSTOs; even if the gravity remains too strong or material sciences too undeveloped for either to be feasible, since the cost of reaching orbit changes exponentially based on surface gravity. Also of note is that interplanetary transfers would be cheaper, thanks to a lower escape velocity. A rather utopian view envisions a society of many space elevators scattered across the world, with orbital stations attached via monorail-esque shuttles. Spaceborne hubs with electromagnetic launchers could provide cheap transit beyond the immediate gravity well, while autonomous solar sail harvesters could collect asteroids for resources. Orbital solar farms might provide power on a massive scale for the surface, and lenses or mirrors could be used to assist in terraforming bodies further from the system's sun (for example, a Europa-equivalent). For planets without a significant atmosphere, you get to do fun stuff like Arthur C Clarke's Lunar mass driver [1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_driver https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_driver