More likely you’d have the engines flying out in front on tethers, so like a skier behind a thermonuclear ski boat. Tethers would weigh a lot less than springs.

More likely you’d have the engines flying out in front on tethers, so like a skier behind a thermonuclear ski boat. Tethers would weigh a lot less than springs. You could also have fully electromagnetic “springs” using powerful superconducting magnets.