Space Elevator Lexicon
Access city:
An Earth Port Access City is the principle location where a majority of supplies/payloads depart enroute to the Earth Port. It should be the location for the HQ/POC and within 2,500 kilometers of an Earth Port Region.
Apex Anchor:
Located at the end of Space Elevators providing a space port which enables release, capture, refueling, assembly, repair as well as acting as a way station for customers’ space systems. While it is a counterweight for system stability, it also fulfills these multiple roles as well as reel-in/out, with many operational missions, such as communications, navigation and planetary defense.
Apex Anchor region:
The region around an Apex Anchor is defined by the amount of motion expected at the full extension of the tether. The region is the volume swept out by the end of the tether during normal operations. When two or more space elevators are operating together, the region spreads to the volume between. (Note: nothing stays at that altitude unless attached to a tether.)
Boron-nitride nanotube (BNNT):
Hollow cylinders made up of alternating atoms of boron and nitrogen connected in a hexagonal pattern (a rolled up sheet of hBN) with diameters in the range of 0.5 to 3.0 nanometre.
Capability On-ramps leading to FOC:
Time after IOC when new businesses/capabilities are added to systems (7th sequence step)
Carbon nanotube (CNT):
Hollow cylinders made up of carbon atoms connected in a hexagonal pattern with diameters in the range of 0.5 to 3.0 nanometres: SWCNT - Single walled carbon nanotubes and MWCNT - Multi-walled carbon nanotubes - made of concentric nanotubes nested inside one another.
Climbers [Tether Climbers]:
Space Vehicle able to climb or lower itself on a tether.
Deployment, Initial:
Releasing the tether from a GEO construction facility up/down/both during the initial phase of deployment.
Dual Space Access Architecture:
A combination of strengths of advanced rockets and Space Elevators for lifting massive loads within a collaborative and cooperative approach leads to a bright future enabling the dreams of many.
Earth Anchor:
Earth’s Lower Tether Terminus for space elevator inside an Earth Port Complex.
Earth Port:
A complex located at the Earth terminus of tethers to support their functions. These mission elements are spread out within an Earth Port Region. When there are two or more termini of tethers, the Earth Port reaches across the region and is considered one Earth Port.
Earth Port region:
The volumetric region around each Earth Port to include a space elevator column for each tether and the space between multiple tethers when they operate together. An Earth Port Region will include the vertical volume through the atmosphere up to where space elevator tether climbers start operations in the vacuum and down to the ocean surface.
Elevate:
The ability to raise payloads with electricity from the ocean to an Apex Anchor by moving tether climbers up and down along the tether.
Extremely massive satellites released at extreme velocities:
Assembled segments of massive satellites at an Apex Anchor (manufacturing/assembly/refuel/rebuild at 100,000 km altitude), essentially beyond the gravity well with daily release velocities of 7.76 km/sec. Also accomplished along the tether with less velocity at release, such as at GEO Node.
Floating Operations Platform (FOP):
The Operations Center for the activities at the Earth Port or Earth Terminus.
Full Operational Capability (FOC):
Design for full capability of space elevators (8th sequence step) estimated at 170,000 tonnes delivered each year.
Galactic Harbour:
A new vision of Galactic Harbour architectures has developed. A Galactic Harbour is the combination of a Space Elevator Transportation System and a Space Elevator Enterprise System. A Galactic Harbour will be the volume encompassing an Earth Port while stretching up in a cylindrical shape to include two Space Elevator tethers outwards beyond an Apex Anchor.
GEO Node:
A complex of Space Elevator activities positioned in the Space Elevator GEO Region of the Geosynchronous belt (36,000 kms altitude); directly above an Earth Port. In addition, its role will include support to customers such as release, capture, storage, assembly, repair, refuel, and operations.
GEO Region:
Encompasses all volume swept out by the tether around the Geosynchronous altitude, as well as the orbits of various support and service spacecraft “assigned” to the GEO Region. When two or more space elevators are operating together, the region includes each and the volume surrounding them.
Graphene:
Graphene - a flat, two dimensional (2D) material made of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal crystal structure. A unique material with extremely high tensile strength, conductivity, resilience to outside influence, and (in 2025) produced at 1,000 meters out of the laboratory. There are three categories of Graphene with the later two potential materials for space elevator tethers; 1) Graphene powder - Made of small particles that are not connected together, and used as additives in other materials, not for the space elevator tether, 2) Graphene Laminate (GL) - Large scale sheets of polycrystalline graphene (graphene with crystal grain boundaries) stacked in a van der Waals homostructure – GL with no vacancy defects - the individual crystal domains are connected with covalent bonds - this is suitable for space elevator tethers (100 GPa), and 3) Graphene Super Laminate (GSL) - large scale sheets of single crystal graphene with no vacancy defects stacked in a van der Waals homostructure, leading to the highest tensile strength (130 GPa) – suitable for tethers.
Green Road to Space:
Insures environmentally neutral operations as a Green Road to Space as it does not burn rocket fuel in our atmosphere nor leave debris along its path.
Headquarters and Primary Operations Center (HQ/POC):
Location for operations and business centers, probably other than at Earth Port, and more likely near a space elevator Access City.
Initial Operating Capability (IOC):
A term to describe the time when a space elevator is prepared to operate for commercial profit – robotically (6th sequence step), estimated at 30,000 tonnes per year delivered to GEO and beyond.
International Academy of Astronautics (IAA):
International Academy of Astronautics focuses upon space capabilities with approximately 1,200 elected members. Two four-year research studies were conducted initiating space elevator programmatic and technical insight at the highest level of “rocket science.”
International Space Elevator Consortium (ISEC):
ISEC’s vision is: Space Elevators are the Green Road to Space while they enable humanity's most important missions by moving massive tonnage to GEO and beyond. They accomplish this safely, routinely, inexpensively, and daily; and they are environmentally neutral.
Japan Space Elevator Association (JSEA):
Handles all the space elevator activities for universities and STEM activities. Also handles the global aspects of space elevators.
Japan Space Agency (JAXA):
Japanese government organization responsible for space systems and space operations.
Length overall:
Full length of a space elevator, est. from 96,000 to 100,000 km.
LEO Gate:
Elliptical release point for LEO – roughly 24,000 kms altitude, just sufficient energy to miss the Earth in a low elliptical orbit.
Limited Operational Capability:
Early utilization of a “starter” tether in parallel with testing and further development (5th sequence step).
Lunar Gates:
Also known as Moon Gate: Release Points towards the Moon – roughly 47,000 kms altitude is the lowest release to the Moon, with the highest at the Apex Anchor – as you raise the release point, the velocity increases and time to the Moon decreases to as little as 14 hours.
Lunar Gravity Center:
Point on Tether with Lunar gravity similarity – 8,900 kms altitude.
Marine Node (Earth Port):
Earth Terminus for space elevator.
Mars Gates:
Release Point towards Mars – roughly 57,000 kms altitude is the lowest release to Mars, with the highest at the Apex Anchor – as you raise the release point, the velocity increases and time to the Mars decreases to as few as 61 days with an average of around 140 days from an Apex Anchor. Key strength is releases from an Apex Anchor with 7.9 km/sec release (17,360 mph). In addition, Mars trips may initiate every day of the year (no 26 month wait like rockets).
Mars Gravity Center:
Point on Tether with Mars gravity similarity – 3,900 kms altitude.
Ocean-going vehicle (OGV):
Vehicle able to travel over the open ocean.
Operational testing:
Key developmental phase when checking out capabilities (4th sequence step)
Pathfinder:
In-orbit testing of space elevator with as many segments represented as possible (1st sequence step).
Primary operations center (POC):
Center of all activities for space elevators. Could be either distributed or centralized.
Seed Tether (Ribbon):
The initial tether lowered from GEO which would then be built up to become the space elevator tether (2nd sequence step).
Sequence, Development plan:
Space elevators could be developed with the following steps: Pathfinder, Seed Tether, Single String Testing, Operational Testing, Limited operational Capability (LOC), Initial Operational Capability (IOC), Capability on Ramps leading to FOC, and Full Operational Capability (FOC).
Single String Testing:
Single string tests are tests conducted of a selected set of Space Elevator functions; aligned and operating. In early forms, single string testing could be an end-to-end simulation of a segment. Later, hardware is inserted in the string to add realism. Testing the initial tether after deployment would be a key single string test. (3rd sequence step.)
Space Elevator Column:
The volume swept out during normal operations starting at an Earth Port (a circular area within which it operates) and extending through a GEO Region up to an Apex Region. This column of space will be monitored, restricted, and coordinated with all who wish to traverse the volume.
Space Sustainability:
Sustainability Missions: (1) Improve life on Earth: space systems support energy, environmental monitoring, disaster response, and global development; and, (2) Custodial care of the space environment: protect orbital ecosystems, reduce debris, and ensure access for future generations. Green Roads to Space will enable these missions as environmentally neutral.
Tether:
100,000 km long woven ribbon with sufficient strength to weight ratio to enable elevator operations.
Tether Climbers:
Vehicles able to climb or lower itself on the tether, as well as releasing or capturing satellites for transportation or orbital insertion.
Tonne (Metric Tonne):
1,000 kg (sometimes incorrectly shown as MT).
Unmatched Efficiency of Delivery:
By beating the rocket equation, space elevators lift a factor of 140 times when compared to rocket mass delivery efficiency of 0.5% to the surface of the Moon or Mars. Space elevators deliver 70% of mass at liftoff to GEO and beyond.