It doesn't have to fly in one direction, it can do s-turns while climbing, or circle.

I think clearly payload launch is the risky part. What are the kinds of launch failures? Rocket engine failure can be uncontained and spectacular.

You can make occasional turns to keep close to the airport while climbing higher. I don’t know if that’s what they’ll do, but this problem has some easy solutions at least.

> Like, for example...how far away are you once you get this huge thing high enough to launch.

It can climb in a circle so that it's never far from its base.

It only reaches 35,000 feet.