Space Elevator Lexicon
Access city:
principle location from which the majority of supplies/payloads depart en route to the Earth Port. It should be the location for the HQ/POC and within 2,500 kilometers of Earth Port Region.
Apex Anchor:
large mass at the spaceward end of the space elevator providing counterweight stability. Attached at this end of the tether will be a complex elements such as reel-in/reel-out capability, thrusters to maintain stability, command and control elements, etc.. It is also a release point for interplanetary fast transit. [Note: nothing stays at that altitude unless attached to tether.]
Apex Anchor region:
region around the Apex Anchor 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.
Boron-nitride nanotube:
high tensile strength material under development
Capability On-ramps leading to FOC:
Time after IOC when new businesses and/or capabilities are added to system [7th sequence step].
Carbon nanotube (CNT):
single molecule tube or tubes of hexagonally arranged carbon atoms. A high tensile strength material which could be used for tether construction.
Climbers:
vehicle able to climb or lower itself along the tether
Deployment:
releasing the tether up or down from the GEO site during the initial phase of construction
Earth anchor:
Earth terminus for space elevator
Earth Port:
a complex located at the Earth terminus of the tether to support its functions. These mission functions are spread out within the 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:
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. The Earth Port Region will include the vertical volume through the atmosphere up to where the space elevator tether climbers start operations in the vacuum and down to the ocean floor.
Floating Operations Platform (FOP):
operations center for the activities at the Earth Port or Earth terminus
Full Operational Capability (FOC):
design for full capability of the space elevator [8th sequence step]
Galactic Harbour:
Galactic Harbour (GH) is a Transportation Infrastructure, with robust enterprises along the 100,000 km column, with dual Space Elevators. By the middle of the 21st Century, Galactic Harbours will provide a nexus for connecting the two dimensional transportation systems of rail, highway, shipping, and air to the third dimension -- space. This three dimensional infrastructure will provide a safe, reliable and cost effective means to move material and people into orbit and beyond -- from any place on Earth through this networked transportation infrastructure.
GEO Node:
the complex of space elevator activities positioned in the space elevator GEO region of the Geosynchronous belt [36,000 kms altitude] directly above the Earth Port. There will be several sub-nodes, one for each tether, one for a central main operating platform, one for each “parking lot”, and others.
GEO Region:
the volume swept out by the tether around Geosynchronous altitude, as well as the orbits of the 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 between elevators.
Graphene:
single molecule sheet of hexagonally arranged carbon atoms. A high tensile strength material which could be used for tether construction.
Headquarters and Primary Operations Center (HQ/POC):
location for the operations and business centers, probably other than at Earth Port, and more likely near the space elevator Access City
Initial Operating Capability:
the stage at which the space elevator is prepared to operate robotically for commercial profit [6th sequence step]
International Academy of Astronautics (IAA):
international association focusing upon space capabilities with approximately 1,000 elected members
International Space Elevator Consortium (ISEC):
an association whose vision is: A world with inexpensive, safe, routine, and efficient access to space for the benefit of all mankind.
Japan Space Elevator Association (JSEA):
organization handling all space elevator activities for universities and STEM activities in Japan and global aspects of space elevators.
Japan Space Agency (JAXA):
Japanese government organization responsible for space systems and space operations.
Length overall:
Full length of the space elevator, estimated to be between 96,000 and 100,000 km
LEO Gate:
elliptical release point for LEO, roughly 24,000 kms altitude
Limited Operational Capability:
early utilization of a “starter” tether in parallel with testing and further development [5th sequence step]
Lunar Gate:
also Moon Gate: release point on tether for orbits towards the Moon – roughly 47,000 kms altitude
Lunar Gravity Center:
point on tether with lunar gravity similarity – 8,900 kms altitude
Marine Node:
also Earth Port: Earth terminus of space elevator
Mars Gate:
release point on tether for orbits to Mars – roughly 57,000 kms altitude
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 capability [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 the space elevator. Could be distributed or centralized.
Seed tether:
The initial tether lowered from GEO altitude which would then be built up to become the space elevator tether [2nd sequence step]
Single string testing:
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 the Earth Port [a circular area within which it operates] and extending through the GEO Region up to the Apex Region. This column of space will be monitored, restricted, and coordinated with all who wish to transverse the volume.
Tether:
100,000 km long woven ribbon of space elevator with sufficient strength to weight ratio to enable an elevator [CNT or graphene material probably]