Question: Everyone, if you got the opportunity to engineer a satellite or rocket, would you be able to have pylons near the launch site and on the craft that take static electricity from the air and channel the power into the rocket and use it as a thrust? PostScript - Like a Tesla engine

Steve Williams answered on 7 Mar 2018:

Transmitting electrical energy isn’t simple but the best option between ground and say a rocket would probably be microwave transmission. However for this to be efficient the microwave transmission would have track the rocket to ensure the energy is always focused on the rockets receiver otherwise energy would be lost. A problem with electrical transmission is that it becomes less effective as the distance increases and rockets move very quickly so you might only receive the energy you want for a few seconds. Added to this I don’t think it would be possible to propel a rocket to speeds required to leave the Earths gravitational field (know as escape velocity – 25,000 mph) with electric propulsion alone – at least not with current technology. However you raise a good point because the rocket technology we still use today is based on the same technology that was developed back in the 1940s. We need a next generation. There is a company called Reaction Engines that is developing a more advanced “Air Breathing” rocket engine. This isn’t really a next generation but would be a significant step forward. I don’t think this work has completed yet or that the engineering concept has been proven in flight. Of course during your lifetime all that I have said above will probably change and its your generation that will make those changes.