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Tonight I shall mostly be building farms in the shadow of my city's Space Elevator...
Space Elevator – Science Fiction or the Future of Mankind?
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Sorry for the delay in replying! Let’s be clear upfront: we can’t build a fully operational space elevator with today’s technology.
But history shows us that what seems impossible today can become reality tomorrow. When President John F. Kennedy set the goal of landing a man on the Moon in 1961, many thought it was a pipe dream. Yet less than a decade later, the Apollo program succeeded, proving that with determination, innovation, and investment, the impossible can be achieved. So, while ambitious, a space elevator is a plausible future project.
Trying to be as objective as I can, here’s a more nuanced take on feasibility — starting with economics. A space elevator would be expensive; estimates vary, but it’s safe to say it would be a multi-billion-dollar project. To put that in perspective: SoFi Stadium cost $4.9 billion, and the Apollo program cost about $203 billion (adjusted to 2015 dollars). Expert analyses estimate the cost of the first space elevator between $6 billion and $100 billion depending on design and infrastructure included. So financially, it’s ambitious but plausible, especially as a long-term infrastructure investment with transformative potential for space access and sustainable resource use.
The technical challenges are immense, but so are those of every large, unprecedented undertaking. Picture a tether anchored to a mobile ocean platform, gently swaying with the waves, while robotic climbers ascend and descend, carrying cargo and passengers to the stars.
Several organizations, including the International Space Elevator Consortium, are actively developing the technologies and infrastructure needed. While we’re far from the finish line, the potential benefits—significantly reduced launch costs, increased space access, and large-scale space-based solar power—are exciting.
A key technical hurdle is finding a material with sufficient tensile strength. Though it might sound counterintuitive, a space elevator is more like a suspension bridge to space than a giant tower. The concept evolved from building “bottom-up” to a “top-down” approach, where a geostationary satellite deploys a cable down to Earth. Currently, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) are leading candidates for tether materials. For example, Shizuoka University in Japan is prototyping and testing high-tensile-strength materials in space. The key issues remain: producing suitable materials like carbon nanotubes at scale.
In conclusion, while we can’t build a fully operational space elevator today, overcoming the technical difficulties in the near future is possible. With continued advances in materials science, engineering, and technology, we may soon see the space elevator shift from futuristic fantasy to game-changing reality.
I’m no space engineering expert, so I welcome corrections and insights.
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References & Further Reading
- Edwards, Bradley C. “The Space Elevator.” https://nss.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/2000-Space-Elevator-NIAC-phase1.pdf
- Gao, Tianrui. “The Feasibility Analysis of a Space Elevator.” https://ijetch.org/2024/IJET-V16N4-1290.pdf
- International Space Elevator Consortium — Annual Studies https://www.isec.org/studies/#ApexAnchor
Recommended Videos
- Space Elevators: Strategies & Status — https://youtu.be/V0ju74IqW0A
- Clean Energy From Space? — https://youtu.be/iNqCAvL1T1Y
- Asteroid Mining — https://youtu.be/3-3DjxhGaUg
- Everyone is Wrong About Asteroid Mining — https://youtu.be/p3hlnL2JN8E
CC: @cy @isecdotorg @sorceressofmathematics @goodmirek @tiotasram @Ifrauding @Elrick_Winter @tiotasram @davidtheeviloverlord
#SpaceElevator #FutureTech #SpaceExploration #Innovation #ScienceFiction #Engineering #SpaceTravel #CarbonNanotubes #UHMWPE #FeasibilityStudy #SpaceAccess #SustainableTech #SpaceResearch #SpaceEngineering
#SpaceTechnology #SpaceEconomics #SpaceInnovation #SpaceDevelopment
#megaprojects #SpaceTower #Megastructure
Sometimes it's easier to just model something than it is to draw it. Here's a #python program to show some orbits along with a #spaceelevator #physics #iteachphysics
When can they spin the carbon fibres that will give us the Space Elevator?
Hurrah for Spiders!
https://newatlas.com/biology/worlds-first-gene-edited-spider-produces-red-fluorescent-silk/
New Atlas · World’s first gene-edited spider produces red fluorescent silkFor years, the CRISPR-Cas9 genome technology has been reshaping genetic engineering, a precision tool to transform everything from agriculture to medicine. With its incredible efficiency, this molecular tool has been applied to plants, animals, and even bacteria. But until now, no one has used…
I got looking into companies that are thinking about making space elevators, and ended up looking into luna elevators instead. (LiftPort seems a contender here.) This is a good overview of the luna elevator concept (from 5 years ago).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1ytpj3y21E
Unlike Earth-based space elevators, a luna elevator could reach from the surface of the Moon to close to Earth.What's more, we could make one now, if we wanted to. No exotic new materials needing to be invented.
#MoonElevator #SpaceElevator
EF A fake comic panel for my worldbuilding project. Our protagonist deer is standing in front of one of the tethers stretching all the way into space. Interesting challenge drawing a change in perspective within one panel, but I like the result.
Also I have run out of finished art for buffering the upload, so there maybe won’t be an upload next week. We’ll see.
"This post is about space elevators, but not the Earth to Geosynchronous orbit that is most known, but rather a lesser known lunar space elevator {LSE), and in particular the one that rises from the lunar surface and terminates somewhere between the Earth’s surface and the Earth-Moon Lagrange Point 1 (EML1)."
https://www.centauri-dreams.org/2025/03/07/spaceline-a-design-for-a-lunar-space-elevator/
www.centauri-dreams.orgSpaceline: A Design for a Lunar Space Elevator | Centauri Dreams
AI Helps Researchers Discover New Structural Materials - Nanostructured metamaterials have shown a lot of promise in what they can do in th... - https://hackaday.com/2025/02/27/ai-helps-researchers-discover-new-structural-materials/ #artificialintelligence #additivemanufacturing #materialsscience #machinelearning #metamaterials #nanostructure #spaceelevator #materials #science #3dprint #ai
Hackaday · AI Helps Researchers Discover New Structural MaterialsNanostructured metamaterials have shown a lot of promise in what they can do in the lab, but often have fatal stress concentration factors that limit their applications. Researchers have now found …
Had a dream last night involving a Space Elevator and it's near impossible line up into the sky was freaking me the fuck out.
Therefore, such a thing must be built for me to get over it in my subconscious, confront your liminal fears!
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I personally go with all three. Definitely cool. Utterly terrifying as it hurtles to and from space and speeds you don't want to think of. And a massive source of collateral damage as soon as the slightest bit of its stupendously complex engineering goes bye-bye.
Japanese Company Plans to Build a Tower Into Space by 2050
https://www.sciencealert.com/japanese-company-plans-to-build-a-tower-into-space-by-2050 #astronomy #SpaceTravel #SpaceElevator #Japan #nanotubes
ScienceAlert · Japanese Company Plans to Build a Tower Into Space by 2050Imagine a long tether linking Earth to space that could launch us to orbit at a fraction of the cost and slingshot us to other worlds at record speed.
Must feel a little lonely just sitting on top of that rocket while everyone else hurries away so they aren't incinerated in less than half and hour.
I love a rocket launch but a Space Elevator is less....explosive
Less than half an hour to Launch
A Japanese company is developing a space elevator to transport humans and cargo, aiming for a cost-effective and sustainable alternative to current space travel.
MORE DETAILS: https://myelectricsparks.com/japan-is-building-a-96000-km-space-elevator-that-will-take-people-to-the-space/
2023 This #SBSP study by #Astrostrom for #ESA proposes a 29,339 m2 #solar 
collector at the #Lagrange point, #SolarPanels from #Lunar 
materials, transported by a #SpaceElevator 
from the #Moon https://nebula.esa.int/sites/default/files/neb_study/2753/C4000136309ESR.pdf
This is what is on my mind tonight.
I'm a big fan of a sea based anchor, particularly on this planet
https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/8866/where-to-anchor-my-space-elevator#8871
Worldbuilding Stack ExchangeWhere to Anchor My Space ElevatorThanks to the recent discovery of handwavium ‡ filaments that can in principle be extruded to any length, we will be able to build space elevators sooner than most people would expect.
The inter...
Space elevators seem like a great idea, once again..Yay! See the linked article.
https://phys.org/news/2024-02-space-elevators-physicist-humanity-spacefaring.html
Yes, but...
"Geostationary orbit is roughly 22,236 miles above the Earth's surface. ... Effectively, a cable would descend from a satellite structure anchored in geostationary orbit that would act as a "counterweight" down to Earth."
If one were to fail—as do all human-made structures—it would wrap itself around the circumference of the Earth at the equator. That's 24,902 miles. The orbital momentum of the fall would throw debris considerably further. Don't expect one soon, if ever. (This would make a great story prompt, though. I once wrote a short story about one.)
#BoostingIsSharing and #CommentingIsCool
#fiction #sf #sciencefiction #writing #writer #writers #author #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #spaceelevator #speculativefiction
#RSdiscussion #prompt #MastoPrompt
Phys.org · Are space elevators possible? Physicist says they could transform humanity into a 'spacefaring civilization'
