What are we doing?

An elevator travels directly to an altitude of at least 36,000 kilometers on an extremely tear-resistant cable. The top of the rope is attached to a space station or satellite. When the center of gravity of the system is in geostationary orbit, gravity and centrifugal force balance each other out. The rope is then permanently tensioned above a single point over the ground.
Most of the technology required to build the actual elevator is already available today. The greatest challenge at the moment is the manufacture of a rope that can withstand the enormous forces.
The Space Elevator could transport payloads into space more safely and at a lower cost than before. In contrast to traditional rocket launches, rocket fuel would only have to be carried to transport the spacecraft past geostationary orbit, using electrical energy to climb up the rope instead of fighting gravity with the chemical energy from rocket engines.
Project GRAKSLER is building a so called climber, the electric vehicle that travels up and down the tether of the elevator.

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