Ramscoop in the atmospheric boundary

ToughSf dug up a 1958 study (pdf) on a ramscoop over Earth at 100-300 km. This is where oxygen and hydrogen are both ionic. They're a pain to deal with for orbiting craft; but if you have a ramscoop, that is now a feature: collect these gases and recombine them, releasing ~3 MJ/kg energy and produce net positive thrust to allow for propellantless low orbit propulsion. UPDATE 1/13/23 He's linking similar over Mars (pdf).

Note, not ramjet; it's able to provide energy by mixing the ions together.

First, of course, 1958 NASA had to get that scoop up there, which still isn't trivial. I do wonder if 100-300 km be a viable layer for that lightcraft; this was done, exactly, to push something to Mach 25 in the highest atmosphere.

I also wonder about Venus of course. There's a hydrogen / oxygen ionic stew above that planet too. To be as consistent as over Earth, the ramscoop must run orthogonal to the Venus-Sun line (i.e. it's polar). I suppose if going equatorial you just have to expect different conditions as you go along, although that looks like a complex problem.