Move over SpaceX, Japan’s space elevator will be a ride to the stars

Elon Musk is known for celebrating “moonshots” – ideas that are so futuristic, they seem to have little to no chance of succeeding today. His unshakable confidence that he can turn moonshots into realities has resulted in the electric car company Tesla, and the space exploration firm Space X. Though Musk’s companies get an enormous amount of attention, one Japanese construction company is ignoring the hype and getting started on its own stairway elevator to heaven.

According to ABC News in Australia the Obayashi construction company has declared its intentions to build an elevator that reaches outer space by 2050. The elevator will be 96,000 kilometres and its operation will hinge on highly sturdy cables enhanced by carbon nanotechnology.

This elevator pitch may sound questionable, but its success could have a noticeable impact on the rocket industry. Obayashi told ABC that it costs approximately US$22,000 per kilogram to send objects into space using rockets. The proposed space elevator would have a cost of just US$200 per kilogram and could transport 30 people at once for the seven day trip to the top.

In the context of the so-called Asian “space race,” Japan has been taking a couple laps off. Of the countries with the highest space exploration abilities in the region, only Japan has lacked a signature moment recently. China just sent “Jade Rabbit” to the moon while India has confirmed
its intention to get to Mars.

Japan, on the other hand, has more recently tried to get succeed in its 10-year mission to land a space craft onto an asteroid.

Oyabushi, a 120-year old company is trying to fill the void left by Japan’s national space agency’s slow progress. Building giant structures is nothing new to the firm thankfully. One of its biggest projects recently was building Tokyo Sky Tree, the world’s tallest broadcasting tower.

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