>>12274019It may LOOK like rails but the analogy stop here. It might as well be a space stairway and will in fact be one until you can cover its entire length with magnetic rail.
Making a climbing vehicle that doesn't damage the cable will be probably as difficult as building the damn thing.
The entire process of building a space elevator require to start from the top and lower the mass while adding counterweight, meaning that you'd need efficient space transportation before you can build the first one, defeating its purpose.
And you do know that space elevator make lower orbit unusable by anything that can't avoid the cable.
As redundancy and critical failure go it is also the most dangerous solution. A cut elevator would collide into every other in a cascade effect.
It may have a "cheap" powered state but you'll still need to maintain it's entire length, requiring power transport all along.
>>12274051Time/cost is heavily in favor of Launch loop.
It can be built first and don't bother other infrastructure, it doesn't require perfect material at the limit of physic, several can be built as tech improve and for redundancy and its failure don't nuke the orbit.
And then there's how it can work in synergy with orbital rings and space tethers.
An orbital ring is the ultimate evolution of a launch loop. If we fused both into a permanent active structure it could be a literal railroad to orbit (because you would remain under gravity until you get enough speed to remain in orbit)
A damaged orbital ring will have part that fall mostly straight down, the rotating-cable can in theory survive a cut as long as it remain contained and if it was in inactive state, everything remain in orbit.
Space tethers are honestly rather dangerous but they don't require constant power and with cutting charges at the right place you can yank remaining part of it out of orbit.
The only place that could use orbital elevator are moons with atmosphere, well below physical limitation.
