University orbiter set to lift space elevator technology

Space elevators could one day be zipping astronauts from terra firma to orbiting space stations, thanks to a tiny satellite made by students and researchers at Shizuoka University. Unveiled June 8, the STARS-C (Space Tethered Autonomous Robotic Satellite-Cube) was designed by a project team headed by Shizuoka University's Faculty of Engineering. The microsatellite is specially designed to test a “space tether,” a cable essential in connecting Earth with a space station high above its atmosphere in the space elevator concept. More

(Source: Asahi Shimbun - Jul 7)