why do space rockets take off from a upright position instead of taking off of a runway like a plane, reach 40,000 ft and entering space from there.
In: Engineering
It’s less energy to go straight up than to go horizontally and angle up. Rockets are already massive things that are almost entirely fuel storage.
It would just be adding steps and complexity that aren’t as efficient as vertical launches. You’ll need wings now, you’ll still need a rocket system at altitude to get to escape velocity, and there would be a lot more time in the atmosphere trying to get to speed which means more heat, more drag, and more energy.
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