Japanese firm eyes space elevator by 2050

A Japanese construction company is planning a space elevator that can transport passengers to a space station 36,000 km above the Earth by as early as 2050.

 

Tokyo-based Obayashi Corp. plans to use carbon nanotubes, which are 20 times stronger than steel, as cables for the space elevator, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported.

 

But the elevator ride would not be a fast one: the elevator car would carry up to 30 people at 200 kph, and the trip may take as much as a week.

 

Obayashi is eyeing magnetic linear motors as one possible means of propulsion for the elevator car. Quarter distance to the moon

 

For the project, a cable would be stretched up to 96,000 km —one-fourth of the distance between the Earth and the moon, the report said.

 

One end of the cable would be anchored at a spaceport on the ground, while the other would be fitted with a counterweight.

 

The terminal station would house laboratories and living space.

 

Solar power generation facilities would also be set up around the terminal station to transmit power to the ground, the company added.

 

The Yomiuri Shimbun report said other organizations have also been studying the development of space elevators, such as the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Costs and payoffs in the billions

 

A separate article on tech site CNET pointed out that NASA had previously also investigated space elevators, awarding $900,000 in 2009 to LaserMotive for developing a laser-powered robotic climber.

 

But CNET noted technological hurdles that need to be overcome, and even then the required infrastructure could cost billions of dollars to build.

 

However, it also noted that space elevators could significantly reduce space-related costs compared with rocket launches.

 

Carbon nanotube development

 

Key issues facing the project include whether or not carbon nanotubes can be mass-produced economically enough and whether various organizations from around the world can work together.

 

“At this moment, we cannot estimate the cost for the project. However, we’ll try to make steady progress so that it won’t end just up as simply a dream,” an Obayashi official said. — TJD, GMA News