Raoul said:

>Both Shuttle tether tests were not exactly successes, though.
>(STS 46 and 75) Plenty remains to be learned.

Mixing a tether with a scramjet is a clever idea. Scramjets flame out around
Mach 10 so using a tether for that last bit of delta-V is cute. However Raoul
nailed the problem with this concept when he mentioned STS 46 and 75.
Tethers are incredibly difficult to deploy in zero gravity. They have all sorts of
nonintuitive dynamics. Deploying a tether with a bit of atmospheric
drag and lift would be even more difficult. I fear this concept is Too Hard and a
No Starter.

Gary