Sci-fi author Neal
Stephenson (Snow Crash, The Diamond Age) has written an article about why we use rockets to get into space. To begin, he shows how inter-continental rocketry was invented ahead of its time, due mainly to WWII and the threat of a Third. These hyper-expensive things were then re-purposed when it was realized that satellites were so damned useful. He then discusses why we are now locked-in to using them as the default way to get into orbit, even though they are expensive and dangerous. The reasons are not just regulatory and managerial - there is accountancy (launch insurance) and international law (permission to fly over countries). We have made rockets "as close to perfect as they're ever going to get", yet we don't try alternative, better technologies.
He does not give any answers, but one of the advisers he credits gives away an interesting detail; he works for LaserMotive, world leaders in power-beaming. This technology just happens to be the best way to power a
space elevator. Could this be hint for what features in his next novel?
