The space elevator starts with a basic platform in the ocean, near the equator. Attached to the platform is a paper-thin ribbon no more than a metre wide that stretches 100,000 kilometres into space, about one-quarter of the way to the moon. There it’s tied to a satellite that pulls the ribbon taut and keeps it straight as it orbits in synch with the Earth’s rotation.

“The idea is somewhat like taking a ball on a string, spinning it around in your hand,” Laubscher says. “It doesn’t just flop down, it actually opposes the force of gravity and stands outward. That’s really what’s happening with this cable.”



Spacecraft would ride up the cable on an electrically powered climber that would be fuelled by ground-based lasers shining onto solar panels.



Once above the Earth’s atmosphere the spacecraft would be released to orbit the Earth and do whatever business it was sent to do. Or it could ride the elevator right to the end and be thrown toward Mars or Venus.



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