Reaching max q at T+0.0001 seconds while 1 inch away from the launch site's massive expensive centrifuge. It's a bold strategy, Cotton.

I hear you :) but IIRC the US "rail guns" are generating muzzle velocities in this speed range (?)

I've seen very spectacular footage of these rounds tearing a hole in the atmosphere ... so maybe our shared intuition isn't reliable...

or maybe once you get a cross section bigger than a playing card, things become.... interesting at these speeds at sea level;)