A launch loop (also known as a Lofstrom loop) is a proposed design for a very efficient non-rocket spacelaunch method. It is a much simpler concept than the space elevator, but still more complex than tether propulsion systems such as the rotovator. The launch loop concept was first described by Keith Lofstrom in November 1981 Reader’s Forum of the American Astronautical Society newsletter, and in the August 1982 L5 News. Another pioneer of the concept was Paul Birch. In 1982 he published a series of papers in the Journal of the British Interplanetary Society which described orbital rings and described a form of launch loop which he called Partial Orbital…