---
title: "Space Elevators: From Science Fiction to Reality"
description: "This hypothetical tether from Earth could cut the cost of sending materials to space from $20,000 per kilogram to perhaps as low as $200. The concept is currently technologically impossible as we don't have material strong enough to serve as the tether, but a material breakthrough could make it a reality."
date: "2016-11-03"
modified: "2016-11-03"
authors:
  - name: "Jelor Gallego"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jelor-gallego"
url: "https://futurism.com/space-elevators-from-science-fiction-to-reality"
categories:
  - "Off-World"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "Space Elevator"
  - "space flight"
  - "Space travel"
---

# Space Elevators: From Science Fiction to Reality

![Space elevator](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Space-Elevator-1.jpg>)
*How Earth could look from a space elevator. Image Credit: WallpaperFolder.com \<em\>Image: Credit: WallpaperFolder.com\</em\>*

Organizations like NASA and SpaceX have pledged to send humans to Mars in the near future, and each has its own unique technology in development to enable such a journey. One thing they all seem to have in common, however, is the proposed method of transportation.

Right now, the only way to reach space is via a large chemical rocket, the same way we have been since the 1960s. But what if there were a way to get there that was more fuel efficient and less costly?

Enter [the space elevator.](<http://science.howstuffworks.com/space-elevator.htm>)

Space elevator concepts generally consist of [the same basic parts](<http://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/people-are-still-trying-build-space-elevator-180957877/?no-ist>). A platform firmly planted on Earth would be the base, and elevator cars would travel up and down a long tether. The tether would end at a counter weight 99,779 kilometers (62,000 miles) above the Earth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPQQwqGWktE

Such an elevator would drastically lower the cost of sending materials into space, from $20,000 per kilogram to perhaps as low as $200. If that's the case, the cost of building such an elevator would be recouped after having sent 1 million tons of cargo.

So what's preventing the construction of these elevators? As of now, we don't have material strong enough to serve as the tether. Some studies have said [carbon nanotubes](<https://futurism.com/?s=carbon+nanotube>) aren't strong enough, and current hopes are pinned on [diamond nanothreads](<https://futurism.com/?s=diamond+nanothread>). Estimates suggest that the material needed for a tether will be developed [by 2030.](<https://futurism.com/new-study-says-space-elevators-will-feasible-2030>)

Construction could also be derailed if an alternative technology is developed that makes space elevators unnecessary. SpaceX and other companies are trying to create [reusable rockets](<https://futurism.com/?s=reusable+rockets>), which are also expected to lower costs. If they are successful, the space elevator may be permanently relegated to its current place in sci-fi.