[monkeyfun]

It's fairly niche here, but I would like to note that lofting can be more efficient than either a purely direct or ballistic trajectory -- one only needs consider the case of going higher in the atmosphere so as to have less air drag at extremely high velocities. Can mean a higher speed, acceleration, and a longer range for the same payload.

In a sense, this is actually done with high velocity rocketry in general. Often most launch profiles involve a steep ascent before smoothing it out into a softer turn.