I found a number of sources online that disagree with you. https://www.quora.com/Escape-velocity-is-supposed-to-be-24-000-mph-but-our-rockets-never-achieve-thi

I found a number of sources online that disagree with you. https://www.quora.com/Escape-velocity-is-supposed-to-be-24-000-mph-but-our-rockets-never-achieve-this-speed-How-does-that-work?share=1 https://www.quora.com/Escape-velocity-is-supposed-to-be-24-0... Multiple answers explain that there isn't a fixed minimum change in velocity required for an object to escape Earth's gravity. https://www.quora.com/Does-rocket-always-need-the-escape-speed-11-2km-sec-to-escape-the-earth?share=1 https://www.quora.com/Does-rocket-always-need-the-escape-spe... The first answer here explains the same thing, using basically the same example (1 m/s instead of 1 mph). https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/4688/couldnt-i-escape-earths-gravity-traveling-only-1-mph-0-45-m-s https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/4688/couldnt-i-esc... The answers here overwhelmingly reiterate and support the same example in this thread.