On September 20th Liftport successfully tested their lifter which climbed 1000 feet.
“Even though the challenges to bring the space elevator to reality are substantial, there are no physical or economic reasons why it can’t be built in our lifetime.” That’s the matter-of-fact feeling of physicist, Bradley Edwards of Eureka Scientific in Berkeley, California, but carrying out heavy lifting design work in Seattle, Washington.
The hurdle to date, Edwards said, has been the commercial fabrication of carbon nanotubes. Both U.S. and Japanese firms, among others, are ramping up production of carbon nanotubes, with tons of this now exotic matter soon to be available. “That quantity of material is going to be around well before five years time. It’s not going to take long,” he said.
Given the far stronger-than-steel ribbon of carbon nanotubes, a space elevator could be up within a decade.
Wow, this is starting to sound real – and close.
I agree. It does seem almost do-able. I’ll take the first ride to Planet X.
It even seems to be privately finded!