[RightWhale]

This version is do-able.

[narby]

Sounds like a cool idea. But what I don't understand is where the energy is coming from. If you boost a spacecraft higher, you must use energy, and that will reduce the energy in the tether.

I understand that you could recover the energy by taking higher spacecraft and lowering them, or de-orbiting them. But how often will this be done?

Maybe I'm answering my own question. The energy will be taken from dead spacecraft and boosters, with a side bennefit of cleaning up orbital space?

Might work, but sounds pretty complicated to organize.

[KellyAdmirer]

"Realistically, I believe it will take about 7-10 years of hard work to get a MXER flight demonstration into orbit," Hoyt told SPACE.com.

In NASA-speak, this means it might get off the drawing-board stage in 7-10 decades, at which point the final remaining shuttle will have finally disintegrated into fine space dust after having been kept flying by being patched together with chicken wire and chewing gum to keep it going for just one more flight.

[Servant of the Nine]

This is hardly a new idea. It has been knocking around for at least 30 years.

So9

[Ahban]

high risk-high payoff bump

[mvpel]

At the Mars Society Convention in Boulder a couple of years ago, one of the developers of this concept had a very interesting presentation about it. I'll see if I can dig up the handouts...

[r9etb]

This version is do-able.

But why? Now, in addition to just launching your satellite, you have to make it do a rendezvous with the tether, and you've opened yourself up to all sorts of collision-related risks.

There's an easier way to use tethers: just reel one out, then pump an electric current through it. Presto: electric propulsion.

[Prodigal Son]

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