Facts on Canada’s ‘ space elevator’
The 20- kilometre high inflatable lift could launch planes to orbit
A Canadian company, Thoth Technology Inc., has filed a patent for a 20- kilometre high platform from which space planes could be launched. Here are five things you need to know about the Pembroke, Ont., company’s tower, dubbed ‘ ThothX’.
IT’S IN A SWEET SPOT
Engineers had always believed that space elevators would be unfeasible because no material exists that could support itself at such a height — although diamond nanothreads have been suggested. However, the new design by Thoth gets around the problem by only building the elevator to 20 kilometres so that it sits in the stratosphere rather than going all the way out into geostationary orbit, where satellites fly, which is about 25,406 km up.
IT’S INFLATABLE
From the top of the lift, space planes would launch in a single stage to orbit, returning to the top of the tower to refuel. The tower would be inflatable, made with reinforced segments and topped with a runway from which satellite payloads could be launched. It would stay upright using complex arrangements of flywheels to compensate for the tower bending.
IT COULD BE USED FOR SPACE TOURISM
Each car could carry about 10 tonnes of cargo, either by way of pressurized cars in the core of the structure, or alternatively, by climbing up the outside of the shaft like a funicular railway. But according to the designers, the tower could also be used for much more — scientific research, communications and energy generation from wind turbines. The elevator could also open up new possibilities for space tourism, bringing down the cost of flights and making travel more convenient.
IT’S ENERGY EFFICIENT
Rockets are incredibly inefficient because they need huge amounts of power to get off the ground, using up most of their fuel fighting against inertia and atmospheric drag. According to Thoth Technology, the lift would cut the cost of space flight by about one- third because shuttles would not need to carry enormous amounts of fuel to get off the ground.
IT’S BUILT TO WITHSTAND A HURRICANE
This would seem like an obvious feature to build into a tower that stretches into the stratosphere, but it’s still reassuring to know that the elevator is designed to withstand the force of a Category 5 hurricane.