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Space Elevators: Pros, Cons, and the Japan Company Trying to Build One

A space elevator could make it much cheaper and faster to get goods to other planets, like Mars.

The Obayashi Corporation based in Japan announced in 2012 plans to begin building one by next year.

Not only would it cost $100 billion, there are huge technological and organizational challenges.

Imagine a long tether linking Earth to space that could launch us to orbit at a fraction of the cost and slingshot us to other worlds at record speed.

That's the basic idea behind a space elevator.

According to some designs, space elevators would shuttle cargo to orbit on electromagnetic vehicles called climbers. These climbers could be remotely powered — like through solar power or microwaves — eliminating the need for on-board fuel.