About Space Elevator

1. SPACE ELEVATOR : THE FINAL
FRONTIER
Presented By :
AMIYA KUMAR SAMAL
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
PARALA MAHARAJA ENGINEERING COLLEGE Guided By :
8TH SEMESTAR Mr. B.D. Rao (Asst. Professor)
1301109115

2. CONTENTS :
 HISTORY
 INTRODUCTION
 WHAT IS SPACE ELEVATOR????
 COMPONENTS
 WORKING PRINCIPLE
 WHY WE GO FOR SPACE ELEVATOR
 TECHNICAL BUDGET
 CHALLENGES & SOLUTIONS
 ADAVANTAGES
 DISVANTAGES
 FUTURE SCOPE
 APPLICATION
 CONCLUSION

3.  HISTORY :
 The key concept of the space elevator appeared in 1895 when
Russian scientist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky was inspired by the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
 NASA holds first workshop on space elevators after the discovery Of carbon nano
tubes in 1999.
 Further Research have been carried out to make it a successful project.
 Obayashi Corporation announced that by 2050 it could build a space elevator using
carbon nanotube technology in the beginning of 2015.

4.  A New Space Transportation system being
developed that could make travel to
geostationary earth orbit and
transform the global economy and bring the new
thinking / idea.
 It’s a fiction that could become reality in the
near future.
 Its height may be around 62000
mile ( 100000 km ).

5.  WHAT IS SPACE ELEVATOR??
 Cable attached to the Earth near the equator which extends directly
into space and is attached to a small counterweight revolving in
orbit .
 Stays in position because the gravitational force is equal to the
centrifugal force.
 Space elevators are incredibly tall structures that stretch beyond the earth’s
atmosphere to transport satellites and shuttles into outer space with
out much cost and environmental impact of rocket fueled launcher
consisting of a 1,00,000 Km long cable.
 The earthbound end would be attached to a floating platform
in the middle of an ocean , while the other end would be fixed
to an orbiting object.

6.  COMPONENTS :
I. ANCHORS/BASE STATIONS
II. RIBBON/CABLES /TEHTERS
III. CLIMBERS/ELEVATOR CAR
IV. POWER SOURCE
V. COUNTERWEIGHTS

7. COMPONENTS

8. I . ANCHOR :
 The base stations are classified in two categories :
Stationary and Mobile Base Station.
 Mobile stations are typically large oceangoing vessels.
 Stationary stations are located on high altitudes such
as on the top of mountains or on high towers etc.
 Anchor station is a mobile, ocean-going platform
identical to ones used in oil drilling.
 Weather and mobility are primary factors.

9. II . RIBBON :
 The cable made of a material with a large tensile strength/density
 Ribbon is long cable of light ,flexible , Ultra Strong Metal which
provides grip for climber
 Ribbon means tether cable which holds two components i.e. anchor
And counter weight.
 It is made of carbon nano tubes in a composite matrix that would
be wound into a spool so that it would be launched into orbit.

10.  RIBBON CONSTRUCTION :
 Initial production takes place on earth.
 The cable is a carbon nanotube/epoxy composite.
 Aligned nanotubes are epoxied into sheets, which are then combined (reinforced).
 Climbers have a similar system on-board to build tether.
 The ribbon can be produced in small length bundles and then connected along.
 Nanotubes must be defect free and straight
 The length of the finished cable is 91,000km, and nanotubes are cm in length.
 Nanotubes are grown aligned, and defects can be controlled in current production
methods .

12. III . CLIMBERS :
 Used as launch vehicle.
 Payloads from 20,000- 1,000,000 kg.
 Velocity up to 200km/hr.
 These are mainly the robotic lifter
which uses the ribbon to move in
the space.
 Traction tread rollers on the lifter
would clamp on to the ribbon and
pull the ribbon through, enabling the elevator to climb up the lifter .
 Climbers powered by electron laser & photovoltaic cells, with power requirements
of 1.4-120MW.

13.  These are just a source of energy and power for
the climber.
 The energy can be transferred to the climber
through various methods .
 Transfer the energy to the climber through
wireless energy transfer while it is climbing.
 Transfer the energy to the climber through some
material structure while it is climbing.
 Store the energy in the climber before it starts – requires an extremely
high specific energy such as nuclear energy.
 Solar power – power compared to the weight of panels limits the speed of climb
 Electron lasers can be used to deliver power

14. V . COUNTER WEIGHT :
 Two dominant methods have been proposed.
 One is a heavy object like space station.
 And another is expanding cable itself well past geosynchronous orbit.
 These are used to balance the upward and downward gravity to centrifugal force.

15.  WORKING :

16.  WHY IT IS NEED TO BUILD
SPACE ELEVATOR !!

17.  TECHNICAL BUDGET :
COMPONENT COST ESTIMATE (US$)
1) Launch costs to GEO 1.0B
2) Ribbon production 400M
3) Climbers 370M
4) Power beaming stations 1.5B
5) Anchor station 600M
6) Tracking facility 500M
7) Other 430M
8) Contingency (30%) 1.6B
 TOTAL ~6.9B

18.  CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS :
 Low earth orbit objects could potentially damage or cut the cable that the space
elevator is using.
 Induced current : in mill watt not a problem
 Radiation : Carbon Nano tube can sustain till 1000 years on earth
 Lightning, wind, clouds: Avoid through proper anchor location selection.
 Environmental Impact : Ionosphere dissipating ; so not an iussue
 political impact of creating a space elevator(If the space elevator’s anchor station
is situated in international waters.

19.  Low operations costs - US$250/kg to LEO, GEO, Moon, Mars, Venus or the
asteroid belt
 No launch vibrations
 Safe access to space - no explosive propellants or dangerous launch or re-entry
forces
 Easily expandable to large systems or multiple systems
 Easily implemented at many solar system locations
 Energy efficient compared to the use of rockets.
 Decrease in the annual usage of energy.
 Jobs are created from the construction and maintenance
 No payload envelope restrictions
 Reduce the costs of telecommunication.

20.  DISADVANTAGES :
 A space elevator may cause a navigational hazard both to aircraft and
spacecraft.
 Impacts made by the meteoroids and micrometeorites pose a more difficult
problem to the space elevator.

21.  FUTURE SCOPE :
 Engineering development centers in the U.S., Spain and Netherlands are under
development.
 Material development efforts are underway by private industry.
 Japanese construction firm, Obayashi Corp., announced on Sep 26, 2014 that
they’ll have a space elevator operational in the next 35 years
 By the year 2050, you may not need a rocket to reach the Moon, just an elevator.

22.  APPLICATION :
 Solar Power Satellite :
Economical and clean power source use on Earth
 Solar System Exploration :
Colonization and full development of earth ,mars , moon orbit
 Telecommunications :
Enables extremely high performance systems

23.  The space elevator is a revolutionary Earth-to-space transportation system
that will enable space exploration
 Design, deployment and operational scenarios for the first space elevator
have been put together. Potential challenges have been laid out and solutions
developed.
 Development of the space elevator requires an investment in materials and
engineering but is achievable in the near future with a reasonable investment
and development plan.

24. SPACE JOURNEY……..
An experience , where the limits of human endeavor will be stretched
beyond imagination.