> How about a huge slingshot or spring? Like dug way deep into the ground.
> Pretty simple and inexpensive, just sling/spring us into orbit! or maybe a
> catapult...
Take a look at the work made with mass drivers, they are based on an
electromagnetic accelerator which accelerates the payload into
orbit. A mechanical slingshot would likely not work, since the
stresses would be too large.
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