Star systems that appear to be far away are in fact at a distance, and there are no short cuts, distance wise. Negating the Earth's atmosphere is one step in the process, and as we have mentioned is one of the reasons for generating an internal gravity in a space ship during travel. This is done, however, not to lift off the Earth, but to provide the environment for the next step. Space ships hovering above the Earth are still dealing with the Earth's gravity field, in full. Hovering involves invoking the repulsion force in a controlled manner, and space travel involves turning it off in a controlled manner.
Space travel is a irresistible kiss, and a quick kiss, between two gravity attractors.
This quick kiss is achieved by turning off the repulsion force between two points, and is a carefully controlled process. As mankind has yet to even accept the existence of a repulsion force, they will hardly arrive at the scheme in the near future. And then, mankind is hampered by all the errors in their existing theories, which are dragged forward as some sort of garbage that can never be discarded, held close to the hearts and minds of their advocates.