re: Nothing new there - I've already mentioned that
"An electrical tether will work only where nature provides both a magnetic field and a plasma (electrified gas). The motion of the wire through the magnetic field provides the energy, and the electrons in the plasma provide the return path that completes the electrical circuit.
...
That's what I was looking for, but I ended up having to find it myself. Anyway "my bad" for forgetting Lenz's Law in the first place. Can't blame anyone else here for not knowing - at least those without formal physics education."
So, with this understanding, could you explain why an electronic tether would not work for Solar orbits [used to get stuff from earth orbit distance and beyond to Venus and/or Mercury orbits?].