--- title: "Scientists Say New Material Could Hold up an Actual Space Elevator" description: "Researchers in Beijing say they've developed a carbon nanotube fiber so strong they believe it could actually be used to build a space elevator." date: "2018-10-25" modified: "2018-10-25" authors: - name: "Jon Christian" job_title: "Executive Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/space-elevator-carbon-nanotube-fiber" categories: - "Off-World" - "Space" tags: - "Space Elevator" - "the digest" - "tsinghua university" - "wang changqing" --- # Scientists Say New Material Could Hold up an Actual Space Elevator ![Default Futurism featured image]() ## Space Elevator It takes a [lot of energy]() to put stuff in space. That's why one longtime futurist dream is a "space elevator" — a long cable strung between a geostationary satellite and the Earth that astronauts could use like a dumbwaiter to haul stuff up into orbit. The problem is that such a system would require an extraordinarily light, strong cable. Now, researchers from Beijing's Tsinghua University [say they've developed]() a carbon nanotube fiber so sturdy and lightweight that it could be used to build an actual space elevator. ## Going Up The researchers published their [paper]() in May, but it's now garnering the attention of their peers. Some believe the Tsinghua team's material really could lead to the creation of an elevator that would make it cheaper to move astronauts and materials into space. "This is a breakthrough," colleague Wang Changqing, who studies space elevators at Northwestern Polytechnical University, [told the *South China Morning Post*](). ## Huge If True There are still countless galling technical problems that need to be overcome before a space elevator would start to look plausible. Wang pointed out that it'd require tens of thousands of kilometers of the new material, for instance, as well as a shield to protect it from space debris. But the research brings us one step closer to what could be a true game changer: a vastly less expensive way to move people and spacecraft out of Earth's gravity. **READ MORE:** [China Has Strongest Fibre That Can Haul 160 Elephants – and a Space Elevator?]() \[*South China Morning Post*\] ***More on space elevators: [Why Space Elevators Could Be the Future of Space Travel]()*** ## Author I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()