[mleonhard]

If one's spacecraft missed the skyhook on arrival, it could not decelerate and would fly off into space. The thought is terrifying. The film Aniara deals with this scenario. Spacecraft relying on skyhooks for deceleration would need lifeboats that can decelerate and return to the destination after a missed skyhook rendezvous.

[cee_el123]

safeguards are of course necessary in any system.

here it can be lifeboats, backup hooks, spacecraft with backup thrusters, separate mechanisms for moving people vs stuff, and potentially many more