The issue with rockets is that it takes x amount of fuel to get to your destination once in orbit and x amount of fuel to get the craft and the destination fuel

The issue with rockets is that it takes x amount of fuel to get to your destination once in orbit and x amount of fuel to get the craft and the destination fuel to orbit. It's why rockets generally work best in stages (you just drop the extra support structure needed for the fuel). It's really an exponential problem. Every lb of infrastructure you remove from the rocket makes it _much_ more practical. See my comment above about having magic space elevator materials available anyway. Steam rockets and the like start to seem very practical at that point. And probably less insane than a cable all the way to space.