It's frustrating that many of these alternative approaches to accessing space (e.g. the space elevator) are "all or nothing", i.e. they require a massive investment just for performing preliminary experiments. Rockets (and to some extent space guns) can be built up incrementally, in range and capacity, which is probably a major reason they're so far ahead.
I'm not sure if miniature launch loops would be viable (i.e. self-supporting), but it should certainly be possible to build a space fountain up from the ground, at a very small scale. I'm still waiting to see it done though :(
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It's frustrating that many of these alternative approaches to accessing space (e.g. the space elevator) are "all or nothing", i.e. they require a massive investment just for performing preliminary experiments. Rockets (and to some extent space guns) can be built up incrementally, in range and capacity, which is probably a major reason they're so far ahead.
I'm not sure if miniature launch loops would be viable (i.e. self-supporting), but it should certainly be possible to build a space fountain up from the ground, at a very small scale. I'm still waiting to see it done though :(
Maybe this would be a project Gulf countries could blow their money on rather than supertall buildings.
Maybe the supertall buildings are designed to be adapted into space elevators? See also: Empire state building as dirigible mooring station.
If they want to go higher they'll have to do something brave at some point: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_fountain
I think there have been space tourism projects pitched to Dubai and Saudi Arabia, but they haven't taken off.
It would be one natural path towards actual spacefaring.
That may be underestimating the cost of a loop by three or four orders of magnitude.