arXiv:1803.11384physics.pop-ph
Super-Earths in need for Extremly Big Rockets
Early discovery. Linked by one identifiable commenter. This paper is outside the main ranking; a mention is not an endorsement.
Abstract
Many rocky exoplanets are heavier and larger than Earth, so-called "Super-Earths". Some of these may be habitable, and a few may be inhabited by Super-Earthlings. Due to the higher surface gravity on these worlds, space-flight is much more challenging. We find that chemical rockets still allow for escape velocities on Super-Earths up to 10x Earth mass. Much heavier rocky worlds, if they exist, will require using up most of the planet as chemical fuel for the (one) launch, a rather risky undertaking. We also briefly discuss launching rockets from water worlds, which requires Alien megastructures.
That's interstellar - which is a different set of problems. The main one is getting out of the gravity well of the planet. https://arxiv.org/pdf/1803.11384.pdf On a super earth, such as Kepler 20b ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kepler-20b ) in order to lift 1 ton of mass to…
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