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Re:The Quest to Build an Elevator into Space by civilian on Friday October 03, 2014 @07:41PM (#8408211)
Yeahhhhhh that is not an effective strategy at all. Rockets upon rockets. It sounds like an idea hatched in Kerbal Space Program.

The best "ground powered" structure would be the space fountain: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_fountain

Re:The Quest to Build an Elevator into Space by lotsofmangos on Friday October 03, 2014 @07:52PM (#8408232)
Back of an envelope calculations seem to indicate that a 200km one is possibly feasible using normal petrol, tho I wouldn't like to bet on geostationary. The space fountain has it's own issues, such as engineering the deflector and making the giant electromagnetic tube. What I am suggesting is far simpler.

edit - and the I had the idea before Kerbal came out, so if it is total madness, I promise you they are not to blame.