Comment Re:profitable (Score 1) 422
If you want to put a large communications satellite in orbit, it will cost >100 million dollars to do it. Then, you have to build a machine that can withstand being launched by rocket, survive 20 years in orbit without repair or refueling, and still be useful as a communications satellite.
With a Space Elevator, launching will cost 1/10th or so what a rocket would. It also saves you the 3-7% chance of exploding or otherwise failing, while allowing relatively easier replacement of defective equipment (compared to a new rocket launch). Universities and small countries will be able to afford to launch satellites and experiments of their own. Today, you aren't a business if you don't have a website. In 20 years, you won't be a business if you don't have a satellite (marketing!).
