Starbuck Space Elevator

The Starbuck Space Elevator is located on Starbuck Island in the Pacific island nation of Kiribati. It connects to Starbuck Spaceport via a tether.

Description

Starbuck Space Elevator is anchored dirt-side about five degrees south of the equator (5°38′30″S 155°52′40″W) on Starbuck Island and in orbit at Starbuck Spaceport, located in geosynchronous orbit 102,458 kilometers above the island. The tether is made up of four cables: a larger, central cable that acts as the main actor cable, and three slightly-smaller cables arranged in an equilateral triangular formation around it.

The three smaller cables each carry one transport up and down from the spaceport. Two of the transports each allow up to 50 passengers and 5 crew (@100kg each), and the third carries up to 5000kg of cargo and up to 5 crew. The Starbuck Space Elevator Maintenance Station (SSEMS) is located at about the halfway point, allowing transports to stop if needed, and also allow crews to handle maintenance issues. Each trip takes about 2 hours one way. The space elevator is closed from midnight until 5:00am local time for maintenance.

Designations

The following designations are used to refer to the various parts of the space elevator:

• Starbuck Space Elevator Base Station (SSEBS)
• Starbuck Transport 1 (ST1)
• Starbuck Transport 2 (ST2)
• Starbuck Transport 3 (ST3)
• Starbuck Spaceport (SS)
• Starbuck Space Elevator Maintenance Station (SSEMS)

Starbuck Spaceport

Starbuck Spaceport is located in geosynchronous orbit 102,458 kilometers above the Starbuck Space Elevator Base Station.

History

On 2 July 2205, Starbuck Space Elevator officially opened, replacing Jarvis Island Spaceport as the primary method of transportation of goods and people to Earth orbit.

Timeline

• 2198-04-25 – Construction begins
• 2205-07-02 – Official opening of Starbuck Space Elevator and first official trip to Starbuck Spaceport

External links

• Space elevator (Wikipedia)
• Starbuck Island (Wikipedia)