Re:Why Bezos’ rocket is unprecedented–and worth taking serio...
by samstave on Tuesday September 13, 2016 @01:45PM
(#12490587)
If it's tilted at 45 degrees, how high will it be after twenty miles????
Make the bottom of the launcher a tube connected to some really deep part of the ocean and use massive floats to help support the weight of the structure then you have less structure to support in open air. You load the pods from sea level, then drop them down the rail-mortar and let computers and robotics handle the rest
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_propulsion#Laser_Thermal...
Then send cargo up that's hardened for 30g in a vehicle launched from a 20 mile long mass driver that's tilted 45 degrees. We should be able to build such a structure by starting several miles underground, then building up the side of a mountain. 30g over 20 miles yields a final speed of about 9735 miles per hour. With a boost like that, the vehicle wouldn't need a 1st stage and could probably get to orbit without staging.