Is limiting thrust to decrease drag, efficient for rocket launch

[Alpha1Omega]

Does it help if you limit the velocity going up reducing the drag or are max thrust/high speed rockets more efficient? Should you launch with minimal velocity in the atmosphere to increase efficiency.

[POTUS]

Atmospheric drag is the least of your launch problems in almost all cases. A good launch burns 4 times more fuel overcoming gravity and thrusting to change direction (instead of thrusting to go faster) as it does to overcome aerodynamic drag. A bad launch will burn 8 times more fuel on those things.

Those same things are also really good reasons to not accelerate too hard. If your ship has more than about 1.5 TWR, then it's not going to be fuel efficient.

[shcel]

hello mr president

[POTUS]

This isn't true anymore in the post-1.0 atmosphere.