The Spaceline: a practical space elevator alternative achievable with current technology

Abstract

Perhaps the biggest hurdle to mankind's expansion throughout the Solar System is the prohibitive cost of escaping Earth's gravitational pull. In its many forms the space elevator provides a way to circumvent this cost, allowing payloads to traverse along a cable extending from Earth to orbit. However, modern materials are not strong enough to build a cable capable of supporting its own weight. In this work we present an alternative to the classic space elevator, within reach of modern technology: The Spaceline. By extending a line, anchored on the moon, to deep within Earth's gravity well, we can construct a stable, traversable cable allowing free movement from the vicinity of Earth to the Moon's surface. With current materials, it is feasible to build a cable extending to close to the height of geostationary orbit, allowing easy traversal and construction between the Earth and the Moon.

Conceptual Design and Mechanical Analysis of a Lunar Anchored Cislunar Tether

“…It's should not extend the tether into the GEO orbit as the constant section area condition, as shown in paper [36], although it's easier to travel to a lower space station by rockets, it's very difficult to build the so long tether as it has to sustain internal tension, which is used to balance the gravitations by the Earth and Moon, and the centrifugal force. There is no mass-produced material can apply to this project.…”

“…Radley [35] proposed a similar one. Another termed 'spaceline' was also examined in [36]. But we must point out that the configuration in this paper is specially defined the tether length.…”

Lunaport: Math, Mechanics & Transport

“…One extreme idea is an elevator from the earth to a geosynchronous satellite; the relevant Wikipedia page [95] traces its history back to the 19th century. Recently, another proposed version posits a space elevator anchored on the moon, reaching down to near the height of geosynchronous orbit [105,106]. Unlike the original idea, which required materials not yet achievable, Penoyre & Sanford claim their proposal is feasible today.…”