Super heavy-lift launch vehicles - What do you launch on them?

[kerbiloid]

1 hour ago, wumpus said:

Mars lacks resources (and the cost to return such means that you couldn't make a profit if the surface of Mars was strewn with gem quality diamonds)

They (colonists) will realize it later, when their hypewave will reach Mars and build Marstown.

(You see, this works with gold mines.)

Edited July 18, 2017 by kerbiloid

[tater]

I suppose if I had a SHLV (a few hundred tons to LEO a pop) I might try and put up a skyhook, a la HASTOL. No need for a hypersonic aircraft, we have one reusable booster right now that could do the job. Unlike space elevators, skyhook tethers don't require magic materials, the big issue is that the total system mass is a large multiple of the desired payload mass (75X and up).

[MatterBeam]

3 hours ago, tater said:

I suppose if I had a SHLV (a few hundred tons to LEO a pop) I might try and put up a skyhook, a la HASTOL. No need for a hypersonic aircraft, we have one reusable booster right now that could do the job. Unlike space elevators, skyhook tethers don't require magic materials, the big issue is that the total system mass is a large multiple of the desired payload mass (75X and up).

It is a tradeoff. You can increase the mass of the skyhook and make it longer, or increase the velocity of the aircraft instead. 

A first-attempt skyhook would probably pick up a payload from a first-stage rocket booster, so that the hook capture can happen entirely outside of the atmosphere. This prevents the tip of the hook from having to undergo re-entry every few minutes.  

[tater]

Yeah, that's what I meant. A rocket, not an aircraft. Hook above 100km.