"given enough time every satellite will hit the tether" Let's do a back of the envelope calculation: https://www.google.com/search?q=(pi%20*%20(radius%20of%20t

"given enough time every satellite will hit the tether" Let's do a back of the envelope calculation: https://www.google.com/search?q=(pi%20*%20(radius%20of%20the%20earth))%20/%20(10%20m)%20*%2088%20minutes https://www.google.com/search?q=(pi%20*%20(radius%20of%20the... If a satellite in low-earth orbit has a cross-section of 10 meters, then the timescale for hitting the space elevator is about 300 years. Given that there are about 3600 satellites in orbit (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satellite http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satellite), a satellite would crash into the space elevator about once a month.