Japanese company announces plans to build a 20,000 mile high space elevator by 2050

[sethnintendo]

drkohler said:

Acevil said:

mrstickball said:
Hope it works out. The country 1st to get the elevator will dominate the next century in economics

The counterweight problem needs to be solved. 

No that's the easy part. The "rope" would simply extend much further than geostationary orbit. The problem is the stability of the "rope". Even the best steel "ropes" would break if longer than a few miles. Carbon nanotubes are much more stable than steel and would fit the bill, unfortunately they oxidise and can't withstand the temperature ranges (also noone can make stable nanotubes longer than a few meters). Graphen is the latest "hot item" discussed for such a project (an idea which has been floating around for over 100 years. I think Arthur C. Clarke wrote a novel about such an idea).

Sounds like they need to use nano hemp rope.