> If the power is turned off the Launch Loop will not immediately fall out of the sky. As the loop slows it will gradually fall.
That's for a loop constructed only of superconductors and magnets. If you use active electromagnets instead of the superconductors for saving money (or if your superconductors get too hot), the failure mode is way more harmful.
Anyway, I really don't know why the launch loop is so overlooked. Specifically, I don't know why nobody's trying to build an intercontinental bridge. It may be because of our anti-nuclear culture, and that those things only make any sense when coupled with nuclear power, but that's just speculation.
That's for a loop constructed only of superconductors and magnets. If you use active electromagnets instead of the superconductors for saving money (or if your superconductors get too hot), the failure mode is way more harmful.
Anyway, I really don't know why the launch loop is so overlooked. Specifically, I don't know why nobody's trying to build an intercontinental bridge. It may be because of our anti-nuclear culture, and that those things only make any sense when coupled with nuclear power, but that's just speculation.