Wrong star try Proxima Centauri instead.
I think if you ran the calculations for the tensile strength needed by a tether moving at relatavistic speeds, it would exceed by several orders of magnitude the strength of materials needed to build a space elevator, of which technology has not invented anything strong enough for even that.In short, I think the idea will require unobtanium, not to mention from an energy standpoint, you are proposing accelerating a large mass tether to relatavistic speeds so that it can launch a smaller/lighter craft. Your energy budget is therefore a show stopper
I would like someone knowledgable in tensile strength calculations to examine the limits of the strongest materials we know of today.From my layman point of view the energy needed to rotate the tether should not be greater than what we could manage. As i see it, the tether dont need to spin that fast, the length of the tether is what will provide the speed. The question is how to balance the rotation speed with tether length?Your input is greatly appreciated!
It is still possible to use this launch tether with a booster rocket on the probe. Reaction can be against a large weight such as an asteroid , space station or another tether.
The whole system would be in an eliptical orbit. Release is calculated to occur at the optimum position and speed.The tether achieves an additional 20km/s.The released probe is boosted by an attached rocket.A laser could be used for the last acceleration phase.