Canadian Company Secures Patent for ‘Space Elevator’
A Canadian company is developing a 20-kilometre-high “space elevator.”
The free-standing elevator, which Pembroke’s Thoth Technology recently secured a US patent for, could theoretically launch astronats into space.
A team has been working on the concept since 2007.
The elevator, say its creators, would offer a more energy-efficient method of exiting Earth.
Currently, a much smaller version—still 1.5km high—is planned to be built by Thoth to test the concept.
Space launches aren’t the only application for Thoth’s technology; the company suggests tourism, communications, and wind energy are all practical uses for such a structure.
Don’t expect it anytime soon, however—the demonstration tower might not be complete for up to five years, and the project’s total cost could reach $13 billion.
