Moonraker: 1975

Now, let's say MR happened either before when it did or after (81, 83 or 85). Could we have gotten away with the same plot but without Bond going into space?

Part of me thinks there is a way of Bond getting the job done, finding out Drax's plot. Perhaps out of character for Moore's Bond, surely he could blow stuff up on the ground thus cutting off links to the station?

Or is the plot so outlandish the only way is up?

It wouldn't have had the lavish budget ultimately. UA was going by that point and everyone knew Bond wouldn't get that lavish again. Plus they were back in the UK.

I think it could've still worked. Let's say it was 1975 and the last two films revolved around drug smuggling (LALD) and some stuff about an agitating solar-something-or-other (TMWTGG) respectively, so a plot centring on London being nuked is still a "big deal" by comparison. Could've even been multiple rockets aimed at multiple cities if they needed to up the ante further.

I could see them coming up with a foreign detour or two to avoid Bond spending the whole film in sunny ol' England.

I guess the closest the series has come to Drax's plot from the novel is what Alec planned to do to London in GE (it's even got the post-war revenge angle).