Questions tagged [space-elevator]
Questions about a hypothetical transportation system between Earth and space that would not require large rockets to transport payloads.
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What is a "space elevator"?
I've seen an hypothetical "Space elevator" referenced in various media the last couple of years. Is this something thats really planned in the making, or just a hypothetical scenario? How will a space ...
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What technological barriers do we need to overcome to build a space elevator?
The concept of a space elevator unfortunately still seems like one confined to fiction, at least for now. However, I've heard some sources claim that carbon nanotubes could be the first material ...
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If we build a space elevator from Earth surface to GEO, could I step off it at GEO and remain in GEO?
Ignore for a moment the question of whether building such a space elevator is practical. Let's also ignore the minute delta-v involved in "stepping off" something in orbit. If we were to build a ...
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Would Starship be able to lift mass to orbit (both low and geo-stationary) cheaper than "any" space elevator?
A comment to an answer to a question about Mars missions stated that using Starship to launch mass to orbit would be cheaper than a space elevator. I didn't imagine that. I know that space elevators ...
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Where could we build a space elevator today (2014)?
A space elevator is an interesting concept, allowing for very low cost transit to orbit. Currently we don't seem to have a technology that will provide a strong enough cable to make the climb from ...
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Benefit of sling shot effect with a space elevator
The upper end of a space elevator is moving considerably faster than orbital speed at that distance from Earth. As a result anything released from the top of elevator would get thrown away from the ...
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Inflatable Power Line?
Could the weight of a launch tower or some of a space elevator be mitigated balloons? Similar to the children's air inflated jump houses could a tower be inflated with hydrogen/helium with different ...
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Why is using a space elevator cheaper than rocket power?
Why is rocket power so much less efficient? In both cases you want to lift a given weight a certain height. What does climbing a tether give you that you don't have when using rockets? Wouldn't a ...
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Between a space elevator on Mars versus the Moon, which would have lower material strength requirement?
On one hand, the Moon has lower gravity, and the gravity from Earth also reduces the distance the it has to span. This is particularly true for EML-1, and a little less so for EML-2. I don't know if ...
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Space Elevator Between Doubly-Tidally Locked Bodies
Space elevators may be a reality only in the future, but I know we have the basic principles down pat. Something has been bugging me, though. If we had the proper materials, we could build such an ...
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What tensile strength would be needed for a lunar space elevator?
A space elevator from the Moon's equator, slightly past the L1 Lagrange point and extending into cis-lunar space would have a substantially lower tensile strength requirement than an Earth-based ...
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Can we make a space blimp?
OK. Hear me out. I know that blimps float because of the buoyancy of air, and there is no air in space. But think of the way a boat floats on the top of water even though the material that the boat is ...
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Reverse Lunar Space Elevator
The possibility of a space elevator from the lunar surface is discussed in this question. A lunar elevator for the purpose of return to Earth could be achieved at the L1 Lagrange Point between Earth ...
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Needed height from the release of a space elevator to get a stable elliptical orbit?
As we know, something released from around 36000 km height from a space elevator will remain in geostationary orbit around the Earth. Things released from lower will go into an elliptical orbit ...
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Propulsion options for orbital transfers after release from space elevator
In a recent discussion of cost estimates of hypothetical space elevators it was mentioned that a space elevator is (obviously) well suited to bring payloads to a geosynchronous orbit while reaching ...
