And what would that solution be?
I believe he is referring to the use of Nuclear Explosions to power a payload into orbit (or beyond). I think this design was known by the name 'ORION'.
Basically, a big shield called the "pusher plate" would have a bunch of atomic bombs fired off behind it in a controlled sequence. The actual payload would be protected on the opposite side of the pusher plate, cushioned by an elaborate shock absorbing system.
The gist of it is that you drop nuclear explosives out the back of a spaceship, explode them behind the ship, and use the energy from the blast to propel you. For various reasons this is doable without endangering the crew or the ship. Miniature versions powered by conventional explosives have been tested successfully.
Using the technology of the 1950's, such a design could launch a spacecraft weighing literally millions of tons, and could propel it not just to orbit, but to the moon, Mars, the edges of the solar system, or beyond. You'd launch from an offshore platform in the middle of the Pacific as far away from everyone and everything as possible; with so much extra power you don't have to worry about being near the equator. With modern nuclear explosives, such a ship would work out to about an extra x-ray for everyone on earth, in exchange for basically getting enough men and materials into orbit that permanent settlements, mining, and construction work could begin and you'd never again need to bring material out of Earth's gravity well.
As I said, though, all the scientific studies and proofs of safety in the world are worthless to 95% of people as soon as you mention "atomic bombs". Orion will never fly (literally and figuratively) for that reason.