| I have done the physics: or spoken to people that have. In fact I have seen a successful small rocket launched from a 100 ft high ballon platform (the physics is painful but it is possible). Other ideas like centrifuge acceleration I know have been discussed: and I personally see potential in them (Ammers & Myers, Oxford University Press, 2006 I think: I'll try and dig out a reference #). With equal respect I suggest you actually try to think outside the box before posting vacuous statements stating it is impossible.... ;) EDIT: BTW you do know NASA have recently been exploring the possiblity too.... admittedly for low earth orbit sattelites (and i know that a major problem is breaking that barrier - but it is proof of an initial concept....) The crucial data is that ballons can carry rockets to a MUCH higher altitude than planes. The reduced drag at that altitude means a lot less propellant is needed (and even a solid fuel propellant could suffice). NASA has plans for a ballon that can carry up to a ton of equipment to a height of 33Km which is pretty good! You've also missed the point of the airplane: 600MPH is frankyl nothing (4% of the speed required for LEO). The important thing is the lowered drag and kinetic requirements to get the payload to LEO. |
Small increases in speed would indeed be relatively unimportant in regard to only a final stage. When, instead, an increase in speed affects an entire rocket stack, it becomes important, since lower stages are exponentially more massive than upper stages. For the same reason, it can be important to launch from the equator, since equatorial launch provides 465 m/s of speed, not only for the final payload, but for the entire rocket stack.