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Couldn't the tether just have a friendly robot in charge of what I'll politely refer to as "catch and release"?

• Fuxy 13y ago
  Fast moving objects are quite hard to catch even micro meteorites could do considerable damage a fast moving satellite would be a disaster. The best option energy wise would be to have the satellite adjust its obit however that would deplete its energy reserves a lot quicker then not having an elevator to avoid colliding with. Then again satellites should never have energy problems ever again since the can just be refueled cheaply via the elevator.
  • userulluipeste 13y ago
    "The best option energy wise would be to have the satellite adjust its obit" The best option is to do the math first and plot an orbit that will avoid all the existing known objects for the given satellite's entire active period. And maybe a built-in decommissioning mechanism that will throw it back to the ground afterwards.