Today's Space Elevator

Book excerpt: In the last year, the International Space Elevator Consortium assessed that basic technological needs can be met with current capabilities: and, each segment of the Space Elevator Transportation System is ready for engineering validation. Because of the availability of a new material as a potential Space Elevator tether, the community strongly believes that a Space Elevator will be initiated in the near term. Included in the book is a series of appendices that are tremendous references to the status of the space elevator today. Included are a lexicon of space elevator terms, over 750 references in the bibliography, short descriptions of eight ISEC year-long studies and two IAA 4-year studies on space elevators, as well as a summary of over 20 Architectural Notes covering the development of space elevator technologies.