an icepick through the keyhole

Oh, I know Forward's stuff. The idea of laser-propelled spaceflight isn't new anymore. One particularly poetic image can be found in the Millennium Foundation's manifesto (the foundation is a group dedicated to promoting space colonization), where a ground-based laser station named Bifrost is shown zapping a sail into orbit with a rainbow burst of light.

(Bifrost, for those reading who are not geeky enough - and you all should be ashamed! - is of course the Rainbow Bridge of Norse myth that links Midgard - Earth - with heavenly Asgard)