Getting the counterweight to orbit is not the hard part of building an earth space elevator. The hard part is the 36,000 km cable from the surface of the earth

Getting the counterweight to orbit is not the hard part of building an earth space elevator. The hard part is the 36,000 km cable from the surface of the earth to geostationary orbit that can support its own weight against earth's gravity. There are a few experimental materials like carbon nanotubes that have the right tensile strength to weight ratio, but we aren't anywhere close to making them in more than microscopic lengths.