You've described a Sky Hook. It's a great idea: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skyhook http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skyhook You're right that you don't want to a

You've described a Sky Hook. It's a great idea: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skyhook http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skyhook You're right that you don't want to accelerate it too much when caught. One of the coolest applications of sky hooks is _landing_ when there is no atmosphere. You extend or contract the tether to decrease or increase the angular momentum, and balance it with the decreasing potential energy of landing. You can land softly without rockets.