Video Credit- Space Elevators are possible - this can change everything, Bright Side 2024, YouTube
Space elevators have been envisioned for decades, and now we are closer than ever to this futuristic technology. A space elevator is a structure that remains in place on Earth and acts as an elevator that lifts objects into space.
Space elevators present a cost savings for those who wish to travel into space. A mission in a space ship requires billions of dollars and generates waste we could mitigate by an existing space elevator structure erected in the ocean to sway while the Earth rotates at 800 miles an hour.
Space elevators were initially envisioned to be constructed from steel anchored into a concrete base. Graphene and kevlar are now being considered, and carbon nanotubes are a definite possibility for the construction of the tether. The cost to manufacture the threads that would be bolstered and assembled by robots is less than the cost to send astronauts into space via a rocket ship.
I am excited to see this technology implemented. The threat of space junk is present to the operation and engineering of the space elevator and it's continued maintenance is also a political threat. Private companies and government institutions may abandon the structure and if it were damaged by a solar flare of space junk collision it could be seen as a liability. Most of the technical problems of engineering and building the elevator have been mitigated, but time will tell if it will be embraced by governments or private industry as companies pursue rocketry.