What would happen to anything climbing the ribbon at the time it broke?
The short answer is that some payloads will fall (below the break and below 24,000 km altitude), some will enter low orbit (below the break and between 24,000km and GEO) and some will be tossed to high Earth orbit (above GEO) depending on where the payloads are and where the break is. However, what happens also depends on the reaction of the payload. In other words, what happens depends on lots of factors. Escape pods or re-entry vehicles may be required depending on designs.
