As I understand it the initial motion of the rocket launch is the most energy intensive. Why is there not some propulsion method (electromagnetic or old skool motors) that assist with pushing the spacecraft up. This would also reduce the fuel load?
Basically, why do we not slingshot the craft up and let the onboard fuel take it the rest of the way once it’s got some momentum, even if it’s the first 100 meters?
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> As I understand it the initial motion of the rocket launch is the most energy intensive.
You understand incorrectly!
In fact, getting a rocket to space is not very hard. If you’re a good engineer with some resources, you can build a rocket that will reach space pretty easily in a backyard shed. And you can launch it from miles up by just floating it up on a weather balloon, too.
What’s hard is *staying* in space, because you have to go sideways *really really really* fast. The amount of energy necessary to get to space is only a fraction of the amount of energy you need to speed up enough to stay in orbit. Rocket engineers measure the ‘energy’ needed in something called [delta-v](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delta-v_budget)*, and getting to orbit requires about six times more delta-v than just getting to space.
* (It’s actually not a fixed amount of energy, but it captures the idea of “how hard” it is to get from A to B reasonably well.)
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