I don't know if this is what the guy you're replying to meant, but I would also say that not being able to launch new satalites for things like GPS, internet, communications systems, telescopes, space missions, etc. would also qualify as trapping us on earth.

They're our eyes and ears in space, and we use them to work around needing to navigate the terrain on earth to communicate. It's always easier to bounce a signal off satellites than traverse ground terrain.