How Space Elevators Will Work

When the Space Shuttle Columbia lifted off on April 12, 1981,
from Kennedy Space Center, Fla., to begin the first space
shuttle mission, the dream of a reusable spacecraft was
realized. Since then, NASA has launched more than 100 missions,
but the price tag of space missions has changed little. Whether
it is the space shuttle or the non-reusable Russian spacecraft,
the cost of a launch is approximately $10,000 per pound ($22,000
per kg).

While the space shuttle is reusable, missions are still very
infrequent and expensive, with each launch costing an estimated
half a billion dollars. A new space transportation system being
developed could make travel to Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) a
daily event and transform the global economy.

A space elevator made of a carbon nanotubes composite ribbon
anchored to an offshore sea platform would stretch to a small
counterweight approximately 62,000 miles (100,000 km) into
space. Mechanical lifters attached to the ribbon would then
climb the ribbon, carrying cargo and humans into space, at a
price of only about $100 to $400 per pound ($220 to $880 per
kg).

In this article, we'll take a look at how the idea of a space
elevator is moving out of science fiction and into reality.

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