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IvorTheEngine t1_iy3jal4 wrote

Reply to comment by danielravennest in Space Elevators Are Less Sci-Fi Than You Think by Sorin61

I love the idea of a skyhook - they seemed like an idea that could only work on paper, until Space-X started landing boosters on barges.

I can see how you could visit it, then it drops you off when you go home, but if you use it to launch things into orbit, doesn't it lose energy?

I've seen proposals where it flings things to the moon or mars, and recovers energy by catching incoming mining products - but could you use it just to put things in orbit?

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danielravennest t1_iy3l1yy wrote

If traffic to a Skyhook is "unbalanced" (more mass going in one direction than the other) the orbit will change. You can make it up over time with electric propulsion. Since electric propulsion is at least ten time more efficient than rocket fuel, you still come out ahead.

In Earth orbit you can potentially react against the magnetic field by running a current through the ionosphere. That uses almost no fuels, just a little gas to make plasma contact.

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