How big can a launch loop get?
Launch loops are scaled by wind loading, maximum acceleration, and heat dissipation. If the resources and electric power were available, a launch loop could be built around an acceleration track perhaps 5000 kilometers long, with a rotor two meters in diameter, allowing 200 ton vehicles to be launched at 10 second spacings with accelerations of 2 gees to interplanetary velocities. Hundreds of gigawatts of power would be needed for this, but if previous launch loops put arrays of solar power satellites into orbit, the power would be available. Again, many of these jumbo launch loops could be built along the equator.
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