How do the space elevator proposals plan to deal with traffic in LEO moving at very high relative velocity? Sooner or later there would be a conflict between the tower and a satellite that has lost control or is being used deliberately as a weapon.
I was also mainly talking about orbital rings and feathers which can go to any orbit you want.
Quote from: Seamurda on 01/30/2021 10:19 pmI was also mainly talking about orbital rings and feathers which can go to any orbit you want.Feathers?
As someone said, new large cheap rockets might make a space elevator unnecessary, as well as large SEP tugs for large bulk non-perishable cargo.
I still see large cheap rockets akin to cheap airplanes. You will still want to have ports and railroads to move very large amounts of cargo, even if the infrastructure to build a port for shipping containers is more expensive than building a 2km tarmac runway.
Quote from: aceshigh on 02/22/2021 06:20 pmI still see large cheap rockets akin to cheap airplanes. You will still want to have ports and railroads to move very large amounts of cargo, even if the infrastructure to build a port for shipping containers is more expensive than building a 2km tarmac runway.Problem is that, given how difficult it is to build a space elevator from Earth (likely impossible with known materials, given any kind of engineering safety factor), even if atomically-perfect nanotube-woven-ribbon was capable of supporting its own weight over that length, the amount of cargo that could pass up the tether each year would be low. It isn't really a "bulk transport".In a way, it's rockets that are the cargo ships. Space elevators are supersonic maglev trains in undersea vacuum tunnels.
MARCH 9 - MARCH 11, 2021ELEVATORSS P A C E E D I T I O NFrom Icarus to Jack and the beanstalk, to ancient Anasazi legends – we have dreamed of ascending to the heavens. Usually, these are cautionary tales. “Don’t tempt the gods.” “Don’t rise above your station.” And yet, we rise. First, we dreamed of flying - we achieved it. Then we dreamed of launching - done. The next step was a “giant leap” on the Moon. Now what? Elevators.Blue Marble Week | March 2021 will explore:- Gravitational Elevators (Lunar Space Elevator Infrastructure) and - Centripedal Elevators (Space Elevators from Earth)We’ll look at both through the lenses of 1) Hardware, 2) Business, 3) Outreach, and 4) FrameworkJoin us for a host of speakers discussing the topics of:1) Workforce Development 2) Infrastructure and Space Hardware3) The Linkage of Cyber and Space4) Transportation and Industrial Bases
A space elevator might work on the moon, or even Mars, but on earth the gravity well as well as sometimes extreme weather conditions might make a space elevator very impractical. I could see the moon as a possible space elevator first location. Gravity is lower, no atmosphere. It could possibly run from LL1 to the Moon's surface. As someone said, new large cheap rockets might make a space elevator unnecessary, as well as large SEP tugs for large bulk non-perishable cargo.
Once you have cheap reusable rockets to orbit, which is happening now. The impossible dream of space elevators to GEO becomes even more impossible.
The guy presenting a business case for Space Based Solar to mitigate Global Warming, which he said could only be done with 6 space elevators. However, in his comparison with Starship, he was 1000 times out on his numbers (yes, 3 OOM!).
I remain highly confident that a Space Elevator for Earth will never be built, let alone 6.
And if a fleet of a thousand Starships ever actually exists (which is far from certain - but way more practical and near-term than a space elevator), that's a *lot* of launch capacity.
A space elevator on Earth would be the largest megaproject ever built and the primary material of construction would be 100 times beyond the strength/weight performance of any existing materials. It's not even remotely competitive with other forms of infrastructure-to-orbit, much less viable on its own.That's presumably why no one remotely competent to execute is discussing it.
