[mikeash]

You simply misunderstand the "square" statement. It is factually correct.

You seem to understand it later, where you say that 3^2 = 9 and 30^2 = 900, so what's the deal?

[jsprogrammer]

>so what's the deal?

I assume you stopped reading mid-sentence.

Getting to orbit from the surface of the earth requires more energy expenditure than "the square" of getting to space.