The logistics of raising a cable like that are mind boggling. The weight of the cable, even if as small as a thread would have to be supported by the “anchor” satellite, which would not be in geostationary orbit (because the weight of the cable would pull it back to earth, but high enough that it would be at what we currently consider escape velocity. But it would have to start at a much lower altitude and then move farther out as the cable lengthened. Then subsequent cables would need to be lifted on that small thread until you had enough supporting cable mass to lift thicker cables. All the while, the anchor would have to travel further and further into space.
Then what would happen if the poles shifted and the cable was no longer on the equator ...
This is a “not in my lifetime” type of problem.
The earth's poles don't "shift". Even if something big hit us, it would probably just change the inclination of the poles.
Magnetic poles shift, but the axis of rotation doesn't. Over time, the land shifts due to tectonic movement. Maybe that's what you're thinking of, but that takes millions of years.
If the cable is taken up in sections and then lowered, there are easier installation problems to be solved
Or you put the equipment in orbit to make the tether and release the initial tether with one end going towards the earth and the other end sent above geo-sync orbit, so the two opposing ‘forces’ cancel each other. You’ll also need a weight on the tether past the geosynchronous orbit level to offset the weight of the cable and structure below geo-sync orbit (So you don’t need so much tether cable). There’s lots and lots of little details but it’s an engineering problem once we find a material meeting the criteria.
The (magnetic) poles can shift all they want but the Equator will not change at all. You would have to change the axis of the Earth’s rotation to do that. Do that, and the Space Elevator is the least of your problems.
The constant friction on the “cable” would be crazy as well.
The whole thing is an interesting mind exercise, but I think we are a long ways from doing this. I imagine I will be watching it happen from the “high ground.”
This would be geostationary; a counterweight above the main station would hold the main station in orbit. The physics of this workout just fine; except obviously the ability of creating a material that could be so many miles above the Earth, and yet not weigh enough to pull itself apart. And that’s the whole point of the article is their closing the gap on creating such a material. Of course unspooling such a material back down to earth, making it weatherproof, and so many other challenges are actually much more a short-range problem then worrying about the poles drifting. And to be clear we are talking about poles very very slowly drifting on geological time scales, not to be confused with the magnetic pole reversals.
Magnetic poles shift quite bit, wandering over thousands of miles, but the true poles only wobble a few inches a year, and stay within a ~30ft range.
What will happen to the cable with 24x7 pressure on it from entering the atmosphere? Will it be coated in heat shield material?