Space Elevators (A1-0)

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Space Elevators are megastructures commonly used for the atmospheric transfer of maintenance ships and cargo streams. Space Elevators can either be dynamically supported structures rising from the surface, or they can be cables hanging from a geosynchronous anchorweight, that acts as a smaller center for cargo during elevator-to-ship transfer.

A Geosynchronous Cable Elevator outiftted with a series of large maintenance probe holding pods and individual tracking bays.
Image from Jeff Bartzis on Artstation.

A Dynamically Supported Tower Elevator dedicated to a particularly large Cargo Stream on an expanding colony in the Middle Quadrants.
Image from Leon Tukker on Artstation.

Dynamically Supported Tower Elevators

A Dynamically Supported Tower Elevator, also simply known as a Tower, is a large tower-like structure similar in design to an Atlas Pillar. Towers are constructed out of Diamondoid and/or Fullerene (as well as other hitech construction materials), and almost always have their foundations burrowed deep into an artificial base for additional stability. They possess a series of internal tracks in which a pair of magnetically accelerated pellet streams run, one going upwards and one going downwards in a sort of loop, supporting the weight of the structure through their Active Support. These tracks are constructed out of superconducting isolated materials, requiring little to no additional power input or cooling. At the top of a Tower Elevator is located a pressurized tracking and exchange chamber, in which cargo streams are automatically loaded onto ships, as well as passengers, in which case there is likely additional infrastructure to allow for a safe transfer to and from ships. The Climber of a Tower is very similar to the Elevators in the Spaceport Pillars: they move using superconductive magnets with magnetic insulation in the inner chamber, to prevent interacting or damaging of the cargo materials and/or passengers contained inside. Depending on the width of a Tower, anything from a singular central Climber to a series of radially arranged Climbers can be constructed.

Geosynchronous Cable Elevators

A Geosynchronous Cable Elevator, also known as a Beanstalk, is a strong cable, usually made of incredibly tensile-resistant materials like Polybuckminsterfullerene, semi-elastic Diamondoid or other, lowered from a Geosynchronous moved natural or artificial satellite and anchored to the ground. Beanstalks have a counterweight at the outer end to provide some extra tension and stability, called an Anchorweight. Anchorweights are developed and used as habitat or docking stations, or enclosed in a solid or airwall transparent membrane and terraformed into habitable, often low to zero-gravity environments. The Climber of a Beanstalk Elevator can be very varied in design, but they generally follow a similar shape and system: a torus shaped singular pod, or a series of radially arranged pods are attached to a central climbing engine (that can either be a mechanical motor employing offset traction-thread rollers, a supermagnetic climber coupled with a series of supermagnetic cables, or a combination of both), which accelerates and decelerates the Climber along the tether cable. The entirety of the climber, including the connecting plates, are covered in an additional layer of radiation shielding, either metallic or transparent, to allow for the large observation windows that are often present on the non-cargo pods.

Sources

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_elevator

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_elevator_construction

Orion's Arm: https://www.orionsarm.com/eg-article/460c36d777da6

ScienceDirect: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0094576521002083?fr=RR-2&ref=pdf_download&rr=83a228905c98599b

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/climber-tether-interface-space-elevator