Getting into space can be a tricky thing. Right now, the hardware that can get you there — a rocket — is complex, pricey, and a bit dangerous. The idea of a space elevator which could haul satellites, instruments, and even astronauts into space without the need for a giant flaming engine has always been a science fiction pipe dream, but one day it might actually be possible
A Japanese team is testing a small prototype space elevator, according to news reports. It’s certainly not the fantastical, many-kilometer-long cable of science fiction, but it demonstrates that at least someone is serious about this tech. The test equipment, produced by researchers at Shizuoka University, will hitch a ride on an H-2B rocket being launched by Japan’s space agency from the southern island of Tanegashima next week.
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The test involves a miniature elevator stand-in — a box just 6 cm long, 3 cm wide, and 3 cm high. If all goes well, it will provide proof of concept by moving along a 10-metre cable suspended in space between two mini-satellites that will keep it taut.
The mini-elevator will travel along the cable from a container in one of the satellites. “It’s going to be the world’s first experiment to test elevator movement in space,” a university spokesman told AFP on Tuesday. The movement of the motorised “elevator” box will be monitored with cameras in the satellites.
Japan’s small-scale test is still vitally important. The test will be conducted using a small prototype that will travel between two small satellites. The satellites will be connected via a cable, and the satellites will provide the tension needed to keep the cable straight.
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