“In the experiment, two ultra-small cubic satellites, which were developed by Shizuoka University Faculty of Engineering, will be used.
Each satellite measures 10 centimeters each side, and a roughly 10-meter-long [30-33 feet-long] steel cable will be employed to connect the twin satellites.
The pair of satellites will be released from the International Space Station (ISS), and a container acting like an elevator car will be moved on a cable connecting the satellites using a motor. A camera attached to the satellites will record the movements of the container in space.
The small box that will be used as the miniature space elevator will only be six centimeters in length and three centimeters in both height and width. If the space elevator is able to achieve movement along the 10-meter cable that will be stretched between two cubic satellites, which cameras placed in these satellites will be able to track, there is a much greater possibility that it could succeed on a larger scale.”
It will only work if the Cubesats are spinning around
the center point of the cable. It should be interesting
as the mass changes causing alternating sats to be the
center.
Thanks! That was helpful. so I have a better understanding now. They want to see if they can move cubesats 30 ft and eventually extend it to 60,000 miles. Sounds like there’s a lot of work to be done.