Another Space Elevator Concept

[wolfkeeper]

OK, just for the record, I and others have already been down these roads you're on, and have worked out some things:

a) a single loop running from the ground to beyond GEO and back down to the ground is considered possible if CNT stronger than IRC ~65 GPA can be made (Blaise Gassend worked on this a bit). But if you do that, the payload takes quite a hit because the cable is more stressed at GEO than at the ground and you can't carry as much without snapping it. OTOH on the upside you can supply mechanical power to drive the whole system, rather than use laser beaming, and that may mean you can go faster.

b) multiple loops hanging off each other might also work, however the pulleys in between are a lot heavier- the pulleys vary in size from heavy- at orbit, and lighter nearer the ground... it's probably awkward to build something like that- it's difficult to move the heavier pulleys from the ground to GEO.

c) lighter, and possibly better- if you have a tapered cable hanging down from orbit and have lightweight loops spinning around, hanging off that, for the payload, then you still lose about 50% of the payload, but you get the mechanical power idea in there again. It's probably easier than b) because you can potentially deploy the tapered cable first in relatively conventional ways, and then walk the loops/pulleys up the cable from the ground- there's at least one way known way to do that.