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This paper analyses the impact of a hypothetical space elevator on different areas of space activities. The space elevator promises to drastically reduce space transportation costs and greatly facilitate the access to space and is often proposed as a mean to vastly increase the scope and amount of space activities. In order to investigate this claim, first, the cost structure of current space missions is analysed and the impact of an idealized space elevator evaluated, in order to explore the whole range of possible benefits. The idealized elevator is capable of delivering any spacecraft mass and volume into space, its usage is for free and it is 100% reliable. The maximum potential for space mission cost reduction is estimated. Second, current and proposed future space missions are analysed with respect to the existence of an “ideal” space elevator. For current activities, probable benefits are assessed and for future activities, the change in potential feasibility estimated.
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— The Present study focuses on the fascinating concept of Space Elevators. Object of this study is to get introduced with every aspect in Designing, Working & Construction of Space Elevators. It " s a concept in which tether is used to uplift any type of cargo or personnel from Earth surface to an orbit in space. Such invention not only becomes the new path for heavy loads to get into space but also becomes a cheap one. Also from the top of it, loads can be launch in any desired direction. By this not only the cost of the launch through rocket gets reduced but also the personnel handling this launch i.e. reduction of human error too. Perfect suitable material for such operation is Carbon Nano-tube which hundred times stronger and ten times lighter then Steel. In coming 50 years, it might be possible that many space elevators are ready to launch the spacecraft in space. Its application is not just only limited to the launching but also it can help in carrying heavy payloads to International Space Stations. It simply can give access to space for scientific, commercial & military purposes.
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Advocates of the space elevator predict a drastic reduction of space transportation cost and the possibility to transport large payload masses and volumes into space. A more detailed assessment of the effects from this space transportation system on the design of spacecrafts is still missing. The space segment, including spacecrafts, is the first element of the space economy value chain. An improvement in this area may lead to an increased value flow and lower cost. From relevant attributes, which distinguish a space elevator from conventional launch systems from a customer perspective, possible implications for spacecraft design and consequences for the space economy are derived. Preconditions for profiting from the full range of benefits are identified. It is shown that a realization of this novel transportation system would rather gradually change the situation of the space economy, until it has proven its reliability and advantages to potential investors.
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Proceedings, 2012 Global Space Exploration Summit, paper GLEX-2012.02.P .2x12186
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The proposed space conveyor is a mass transit system for launching vehicles into space that uses the energy of Earth’s rotation to do the heavy lifting. In some respects, the space conveyor is similar to a space elevator in that they both consist of a ground station connected to a top station located some distance above the height of geostationary orbit. However, instead of being joined by a tether, the two stations are connected by a conveyor belt moving along rollers on both stations. Whereas with a space elevator, the climber must make a round trip from the ground to the top station and back before it can carry a second load, the space conveyor allows loads to be continuously attached to the moving conveyor belt, resulting in a vast increase in carrying capacity compared to the space elevator. Furthermore, if the height of the space conveyor is chosen so that the gravitational force acting on the conveyor belt and the attached conveyor cars is exactly balanced by the centrifugal force due to Earth’s rotation, the only energy required to operate the space conveyor would be that which is necessary to offset the small losses due to friction on the bearings supporting the rollers as well as air resistance on the tiny fraction of the conveyor belt lying within Earth’s atmosphere. This balance between the gravitational force and the centrifugal force will continue to hold even in the presence of a net upward flow of mass, as is expected to occur for some time after the space conveyor becomes operational, as humanity leaves Earth to explore and colonize the rest of the solar system, that energy difference being provided by the energy of Earth’s rotation. It turns out that the minimum tensile strength required for the conveyor belt of the space conveyor is the same as that for the tether of the space elevator, so it follows that if the technology exists for constructing a space elevator, it likewise exists for constructing a space conveyor. Therefore, given the substantial advantages of the space conveyor as compared to the space elevator, namely, vastly increased carrying capacity as well as greatly reduced energy required per unit payload carried aloft, it makes sense to devote our resources to designing and building a space conveyor rather than a space elevator.
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