Quito Space Tether

The base of the tether in the city of Quito.

The Quito Space Tether is a space elevator located in Quito, Earth. As such, it is the second known space elevator in Latin America and one of six elevators on Earth.

Overview

It is used for lifting heavy ordnance from the surrounding port facilities into an orbital station at the top of the elevator structure, a transport method much cheaper and more efficient than booster rockets filled with expensive fuel.^[1] As a space elevator would preferably have to be constructed near the equator,^[2] Quito is an ideal location for such a structure as the city is located only a few kilometers south of the equator.^[3]

Built by the International Society of Civil Engineers, the tether was completed on January 14, 2313^[4] and named on March 9, 2401. The receiving station at the top of the elevator tether houses a monument dedicated to doctors Tobias Fleming Shaw and Wallace Fujikawa, the creators of the Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine.^[5]

The orbital station on top of the tether had at least four gates leading to terminals from which passengers or cargo could be ferried to other UNSC-controlled worlds. During 2552, transports led to remaining UNSC worlds such as Gilgamesh and Ballast, and one to other planets in the Sol System. One flight, to Charybdis IX, had been indefinitely delayed, due to the planet's loss 17 years earlier. The Quito Space Tether was among the four that survived the Battle of Earth.^[6]

Trivia

The Halo 3 multiplayer level Orbital takes place on the station on top of the Quito Space Tether.
The elevator takes after the design of the Halo 2 version of the New Mombasa Orbital Elevator, where it is located in the middle of the city, compared to the Halo 3: ODST version where it is separate from the city and located on an artificial island.

Gallery

The logo of the Quito tether.
A monitoring room in the orbital station on top of the tether.
The Earth's surface, as seen from the top of the Quito Space Tether.
Quito station plaque.png

A plaque dedicated to the men and women who built the Space Tether, from the International Society of Civil Engineers.
A schematic view of the Quito Space Tether's upper level.
The plaque devoted to Wallace Fujikawa.
The plaque devoted to Tobias Fleming Shaw.
A control room on the orbital station.
A service corridor on the station.
A room on the station.
A lobby on the orbital station.
An escalator leading to another chamber.
Quito's Spaceport Stamp