The Orbital Elevator
Ironclad Ascent Platform One
Overview
The Orbital Elevator is humanity's bridge to space—a single thread of carbon nanotubes stretching from the equator to geosynchronous orbit and beyond. Ironclad Industries built it, Ironclad Industries owns it, and Ironclad Industries controls everything that goes up or comes down.
It's the single most important piece of infrastructure in the post-Cascade world. Every orbital station, every space-based resource operation, every off-world colony depends on the Elevator for economical transit. Ironclad doesn't just own a building; they own the gateway to the future.
Structure
The Anchor (Ground Station)
The Elevator's base is a massive complex in what was once Singapore—now absorbed into the Sprawl's equatorial zone. A city in itself.
Smells like ozone, lubricant, and controlled chaos. The constant hum of machinery underlies everything. Cargo containers move in endless streams. This isn't a place for leisure—it's a machine for moving mass to orbit.
The Spine (Tether)
The main structure is a cable of woven carbon nanotubes, maintained at tension by orbital mechanics.
The Crown (Geosynchronous Station)
At the top of the Tether sits Ironclad's orbital headquarters and the transfer point for all space traffic.
Everything is Ironclad orange and black. Everything is clean. Everything works. The view from the observation decks shows Earth as a marble, the stars as a field of possibility.
The Hammer (Counterweight)
Above geosynchronous orbit, the Tether continues to a captured asteroid that keeps the system balanced. Mining operations, launch facilities, emergency habitat. Access heavily restricted.
The Experience
Riding the Elevator is strange. You don't feel like you're moving—the climber is smooth, the cable steady. But outside the windows, the Earth slowly falls away.
Strategic Significance
The Bottleneck
The Elevator is the only economical way to move mass between Earth and orbit. Rockets cost 100x more per kilogram. Mass drivers only work for certain cargo. Nexus has a competing elevator under construction—completion 2190-2195.
Until then, you go through Ironclad or you don't go.
Mutual Assured Destruction
The Elevator is the most heavily defended structure on Earth. It's also the most vulnerable. A single successful attack could:
- Collapse 35,000 km of cable onto the surface
- Destroy the Crown and everyone on it
- Set space development back decades
- Kill millions from debris impact
This mutual assured destruction is the foundation of the current peace. No faction can survive the consequences of attacking it.
Transit Costs
Cargo (per kg)
Passengers
Player Relevance
Age 5: First Transit
Your first Elevator trip marks the transition from surface power to orbital player. It requires Ironclad cooperation—purchased, negotiated, or hacked—and significant resources. Leaving Earth, seeing the Sprawl from above, understanding the scale of what you're becoming.
Age 6: Regular Access
Reliable Elevator access becomes essential. Options: corporate arrangement with Ironclad oversight, independent negotiation at premium prices, alternative methods (expensive, limited), or help Nexus complete their elevator faster.
Late Game: Beyond Dependency
By Ages 7-9, you may outgrow Elevator dependency entirely—personal orbital craft, space-based manufacturing, or transcendence reducing physical transit needs. Potentially: controlling the Elevator itself.