KINETIC ENERGY SUPPORTED ELECTRICALLY POWERED

TRANSPORTATION STRUCTURES
James E. D. Cline
Independent Researcher
9800-D Topanga Cyn Blvd #118, Chatsworth, CA 91311
E-mail: jedcline@earthlink.net http://home.earthlink.net/~jedcline/

Abstract be dynamic transportation bridging structures. Seed

Similar to the dynamic braking of an electric
motor/generator, which connects the kinetic energy of
the rotating armature into a torque force drag against
the stationary stator part of the motor/generator, the
electromagnetic drag of a rapidly rising series of
armature sections drags upward on the stationary part
of a very tall structure to exactly balance the weight of
the stationary structure, the lift force distributed along
the structure. With appropriately fast rising mass and
electromagnetic coupling balancing the distributed
weight, earth surface to space transportation structures
become conceivable. The fast rising armature mass
stream also distributes electromagnetic lift drag energy
coupling to vehicles rising up that structure to space.
Stabilized by laterally-coupling mass stream pairs and
by active position feedback servo systems, these would
KESTS would be launched and flown up and around
the planet back to the starting point, then bootstrapped
up to full working size. Such electrically powered rail
bridging transportation structures from Earth surface to
GEO could conceivably provide the massive
transportation capacity to build a new civilization
encircling the Earth in the Clark Belt geosynchronous
orbit, a long term project hopefully to unite humanity
toward common cooperative venture goals.
A Brief Description of the KESTS Concept
Kinetic energy can stiffen and strengthen
structures. Analogous examples include balloons and
pressurized fuel tanks that are strengthened by the
kinetic energy of the internal pressurized gas’s

___________________________
Copyright © 1997 by James Edward David Cline. Presented to, but
not published by the Space Studies Institute, Inc.
omnidirectional kinetic energy; and a jet of high
pressure liquid creates an arch shaped structure in
agravitational field. The arch formed by that high
pressure mass stream jet of liquid could support the
weight of a lightweight sheath around it, a sheath
unmoving relative to the ground, forming a kind of
bridge supported by kinetic energy.
Now consider an electromechanical analog of
that high pressure jet of liquid. Recall that electrical
energy is converted to kinetic energy by electrical
motors, rotary and linear. Motors can be designed to
do the reverse, too, becoming an electrical generator
driven by kinetic energy. And torque or thrust is also
coupled between the relatively moving parts of a
motor/generator.
Imagine an electric rotary motor/generator
whose armature (rotor), instead of spinning around a
central shaft, slides around inside the stator on a
maglev (magnetic levitation) track. And imagine that
armature being in sections, not physically directly
connected to each other, like many trains riding the
same maglev tracks, in a circle.
Stretch out the motor/generator so big that it
circles the Earth, using the gravitational field to pull it
around in a closed loop which contacts the earthsurface
on one part and then reaches out to GEO far above the
opposite side of the planet as it goes around. Have the
armature sections travel on the maglev tracks inside
evacuated tubing at above orbital velocity. Let the
dynamic drag of the upward-bound armature sections
provide a lift force on the track-stator-tubing exactly
that amount required to support the distributed weight
of the tubing, making the tubing earthsurface-
stationary. This acts to compress the trajectory of the
mass stream toward the Earth. Thus the tensile strength
of the tubing need only be enough to cope with the
static and live loads between drag lift mechanism
points along the tubing. As the creation of this lift force
extracts some of the kinetic energy from the armature
mass stream, each armature section’s position and
velocity is re-initialized at the earthsurface contact
site, initially drawing the energy needed to do this from
the earthsurface electrical power grid.
Continuing with this envisioning, put maglev
tracks also on the outside of the tubing, for payload-
carrying vehicles to use. Enable those vehicles also to
drag electromagnetically on the high velocity rising
mass stream of armature sections, lifting the vehicles
up the structure from earthsurface to space, up to the
GEO Clarke Belt orbital altitude. Call this
transportation structure a “KESTS”, short for Kinetic
Energy Supported Electrically Powered Transportation
Structures. Use the KESTS to lift construction
materials up to GEO for building the first few large-
scale space habitats, such as mile-diameter wheel-like
habitats with 1-g STP interiors for 10,000 people each,
including agriculture and light industry. Build more of
these large space habitats, mostly made of lunar and
asteroidal-sourced materials, loosely coupling them
together to infill the Clarke Belt with them. Each
complete ring of them is home for 15 billion people.
Build enough KESTS to lift 1,000,000 people a day to
the Clarke Belt Orbital Habitat Ring, along with their
household belongings. Make the Orbital Habitat Ring
(OHR) sufficiently safe and luxurious to entice the
majority of the earthsurface population to move up the
KESTS to live in it, creating a new primary site for
human civilization. Restore the earthsurface ecosystem
to natural balance. Expand human civilization outward
from the Earth’s OHR. This is an outline of a KESTS
to OHR (Kinetic Energy Supported Electrically
Powered Transportation Structure to an Orbiting
Habitat Ring) project.1
Purpose
Building transportation structures, a form of
elevator-bridges, to connect the ground all the way up
to orbital altitudes may seem absurd; however, such
structures are being considered here. The intent is to
create a transportation system adequate to the task of
lifting the majority of the Earth’s population up into
space, lifting perhaps 7 billion people and their
household goods over a 20 year time span, to live in a
ring of loosely coupled large scale 1-g STP interior
habitats encircling the Earth in the geosynchronous
Clarke Belt orbit. This is hoped will enable a near-
future vigorous expansion of earthlife into space,
expanding human civilization far beyond that possible
in a closed ecosystem, and restoration of the Earth’s
surface ecosystem to a healthy long term balance as a
precious biological resource for the future. An
electrically powered bridging rail transportation
structure spanning between the earth surface and
Geosynchronous Earth Orbit seems most likely to have
the capacity to be able to do that task.
Background
Historically, the urge to climb high to a safe
haven may reach as far back as the trees; in the dawn
of civilization, the Tower of Babel at E-Temen-An-Ki
had the goal of building a tower from ground to the
heavens; in 1960 Artsutanov proposed a
geosynchronous centrifugally supported tether type of
tower structure for supporting an electric elevator into
space; in 1982 Keith Lofstrom proposed a kinetically
augmented structure called a Launch Loop which was a
continuous belt loosely driven between two pulleys,
the centrifugal force of the loose belt flinging it to the
fringes of the atmosphere in its journey around the
pulleys; in 1985 Rod Hyde proposed a vertical tower
enclosing a fountain of electromagnetically coupled
beryllium disks, which he calculated could lift the
combined weight of every human being on the planet
up to the fringes of the atmosphere while using only
the electrical energy used by the City of Los Angeles in
a mere two weeks; and also in 1985 Earle Smith
proposed a continuous belt eccentrically reaching
around the planet, contacting the planetary surface on
the equator and reaching geosynchronous earth orbit at
its high point above the far side of the planet.2,3,4,5,6
Quickly moving the primary site of human
civilization off-planet has been considered essentially
an impossible option up until now. But at the present
time, human civilization piles up unrecyclable toxic
refuse, entropically dispersing metallic ore deposits
beyond reconcentration, burns the oxygen producing
rainforests along with their genetic treasures, and burns
fossil fuels a million times faster than a forested
ecosystem could replace it. In terms of population size,
we long ago passed the limits for long term sustainable
levels for living in harmony with the natural
ecosystem, even given a fully aware and responsible
humanity of only 10% of the present population.
KESTS as a Key to an Overall Solution
People prefer to live in man-made structures,
and space habitats are about as man-made as you can
get. So let us consider creating a transportation system
adequate to move some 7 billion people over a period
of 20 years out to the Clarke Belt, along with their
household belongings, plants and pets, along with all
the agricultural, industrial, and markets civilization
needs for a solid resettlement there. For now, let us just
create the option; later humanity can choose to utilize it
or not. KESTS may be able to shoulder that task, along
with lifting the construction materials for the first few
such 10,000-person space habitats, solar electric power
stations, and construction materials for a head start in
building an asteroidal and lunar mining and materials
processing base to provide structural materials for most
of the vast ring of space habitats to orbit the Earth, a
site for a great civilization and way station to the solar
system’s resources there awaiting to be brought to life.
Basic KESTS Technology
The compressive strength of known materials
is very inadequate to the task of bearing the weight of
such immense structures, so the compressive load
would largely be carried by compression of the
trajectory of mass streams circulating within the
structure at above orbital velocities, the distributed
weight of the fixed structure supported by
electromagnetic drag against the rapidly rising
armature mass streams. The mass stream armature
sections’ velocity are referenced to the Earth surface,
so the load of the weight of the structure, and payload
moving in vehicles upon it, is transferred by the mass
streams to the ground load bearing. The pulsing
electromagnetic energy of magnets contained within
the armature mass stream is inductively coupled to the
distributed load of the structure, and to the vehicles
traveling upon the structure. Similarly, energy is put
into the structure by electromagnetic coupling to the
mass stream at the earthsurface contact sites.7
To support the enormous weight of such earth
surface to space bridging structures, electrodynamic
coupling of equally enormous upward bound armature
mass streams traveling within them circulating at faster
than orbital velocity, drag electromagnetically upward
on the earthsurface-stationary part of the structures,
slowing the upward bound mass stream slightly in
return for support of that weight, compressing the
trajectories slightly toward the Earth. This distributes
the energy required to provide the upward force that
opposes the force of gravity on the earth-stationary part
of the transportation structure, electromagnetically
dragging against the structure as it rises, just enough to
balance the weight of the structure everywhere along
its length, and supplying a small position bias tension.
KESTS Analogy to an Electric Motor/Generator
The structure thus resembles an electric motor/
generator in an electrodynamic braking mode, the mass
of the “motionless” stator being torqued by the
electromagnetically coupled drag force from the
armature rotor whizzing past the stator, positioned such
that the torque provides an upward-oriented force
opposing the force of gravity. In this view the
“armature” is the mass stream. and the “stator” is the
earthsurface-stationary part of the structure.
The Mass Stream Armature Sections
The mass stream is composed of armature
sections performing several functions. Their primary
function is to provide the storage and exchange of the
kinetic energy which supports the compression load of
the structure’s weight, and distributes energy to move
payload along the structures. Some modified armature
sections may also function directly as vehicles
transporting payload within the mass stream itself, and
other forms of armature sections may be the payload
itself on a one-way trip up or down as raw material.
Armature sections need to be designed to resist contact
with each other somehow avoiding such contact wear;
so perhaps they will need periodic automatic inspection
and repair/replacement. Armature sections exchange
energy within the KESTS by rising/falling in a
gravitational field, and electrically through permanent
and induced magnetism, and electrostatically. The
electric field energy exchanges support the structure,
center the mass stream within the tubing, input and
extract energy to the mass stream, sense armature
section position and velocity, for re-initialization
processes, and prevent physical abrasive contact.
KESTS Analogy to a Lasso
To picture how this structure fits into the
gravitational space around the Earth, let’s mentally
picture a cowboy's lasso, a circle of rope spinning
above his head, as in the following drawing. Its
semicircular shape is held by energy stored in the lasso,
by the centrifugal force distributed outward from the
rope loop's center of rotation.
Now mentally extend that fast-spinning rope so
as to encircle the earth, grazing the surface of the
planet and also reaching far out into space on the other
side of the planet. Then sheath the lasso in tubing to
exclude air from the path in which it directly moves,
supporting the weight of the tubing by compressing it
smoothly along the radius of rotation of the spinning
lasso, whose centrifugal force would press back
outward against the sheath. Attach this tubing to the
earth surface where the lasso grazes the planetary
surface: the tubing now is effectively a structure
extending from the ground out into space. Tapping
some of the nearby speedy lasso's kinetic energy,
vehicles can lift up along the structure from the ground
into space, carrying no propulsion fuel aboard them,
like tram cars lifted into space.
The lasso rope is equivalent to the rotor in the
motor analogy (which is turn is analogous to the high
velocity armature mass stream), and the rim is
equivalent to its stator (which in turn is analogous to
the earthsurface-stationary part of the structure). Where
the lasso/rotor is upward bound in the gravitational
field, it provides a lift force on the rim/stator. Laterally-
coupled counterrotating pairs of these structures
provide upward-bound lasso/rotor (mass stream)
kinetic energy to provide lift force to the rim/stator
(earthsurface-stationary part of structure) all along its
length.
Each of the armature mass streams effectively
travel on maglev tracks inside tubing which forms the
earthsurface-stationary part of the KESTS structure,
the rim/stator part of the structure in the above analogy.
On the outside of this earthsurface-stationary tubing,
payload-carrying vehicles travel along other maglev
tracks. They, too, electrodynamically brake against the
rising mass stream as they lift up from the surface of
the Earth to the earth geosynchronous orbital altitude,
extracting energy from the rising mass stream to
provide lift force for the vehicles; this energy is
intrinsically distributed all along the transportation
structure. Eliminating need for electrical
superconductors all along the structure for transferring
electrical power to raise vehicles along the structure,
the high velocity mass streams provide the energy to
the point of need everywhere along the structure, both
to support the structure against the force of gravity and
to provide lift energy to vehicles riding up to space
along the structure.8

Vehicles descending from GEO to the
earthsurface along the structure electrodynamically
brake against the earthsurface stationary part of the
structure. From the preceding diagram, you will see
that this is a force lifting the structure up away from
the earth, adding potential energy back into the
structure.
Vehicles rising along the KESTS will drag the
KESTS slightly downward toward the planet in
reaction, absorbing energy from the KESTS mass
stream in the process of lifting payload; and later when
descending back to the planetary surface, the vehicle
electromagnetically drags against the tracks of the
KESTS, pulling upward on the KESTS in the process
of slowing its decent and thus restoring energy back to
the transportation system. Similarly, the counter
rotating laterally coupled pairs of mass streams, forced
into matching trajectories, conserve the overall energy
within the mass streams even though they continually
are being accelerated by each other away from their
orbital paths. The efficiency of this process will be
determined by the various electrical to kinetic energy
conversion processes, especially the electromagnetic
bearing efficiency.
Earth rotates, so attaching the structure to the
equator means that the whole structure must similarly
rotate too. A pair of mass streams following a parallel
course, but rotating in opposite directions, and
restrained to a common adjacent parallel trajectory by
lateral shear force coupling all along its length, forces
the mass streams to follow the rotation of the planet.
The electrical power input to the mass stream
pairs initially would be at the planetary surface contact
sites, which also provides the re-referencing of the
mass stream velocities relative the the ground. This
electrical power would initially come from
conventional electric power grids, but then would
convert over to space solar-electric power sources.
KESTS to GEO makes it easy to lift the weight of
construction materials for SSPS to GEO, which then
would beam millimeter wave energy back down to
rectennas near the KESTS ground site, providing
power for the KESTS transportation structure. Building
more SSPS thusly in GEO would provide salable
electric power to the rest of the world, similar to what
was originally envisioned in the 1970's, although in
that scenario SSPS construction required a major lunar
infrastructure first to provide construction materials.
An alternate power source form would be to attach
solar-electric power plant thrusters to the KESTS in
space, which support their non-orbital velocity weight
component by thrust against the downward-going mass
streams, adding kinetic energy thusly to the mass
stream, which effectively lifts up on the laterally
coupled upward-bound mass streams, adding energy to
the KESTS; excess mass stream kinetic energy can be
extracted by dynamic drag against the magnetically
pulsating downward-headed mass streams at the
surface contact sites, providing salable space solar-
derived electric power to commercial electric power
grids as a byproduct, without requiring microwave
power transmission from space to the ground.
KESTS potentially have some interesting
properties, primarily useful as supportive structures for
rail transportation between the earth surface and earth
orbital altitudes, as a distributor of transportation
energy along itself, as an energy storage system, and
possibly as a prime provider of solar-derived electric
power to earthsurface commercial electric power grids.
Electric elevator type access from ground to
space has long been of interest, because of its potential
high efficiency, electrical power source, low
environmental pollution, and huge payload capacity, as
compared to chemical reaction engine propulsion
transportation systems serving in the ground-to-space
function.
KESTS Dynamics
The dynamics which can be envisioned at this
time for this form of KESTS involve the coupling of
the mass stream to its environment. In some ways
resembling the spinning rotor of an electric motor, the
mass of this armature is going around faster than the
orbital velocity at any altitude, held lower by the
weight of the sustained loads of passive structure and
its live loads. The armature mass stream couples to its
environment through electrical fields. Pushing from the
earthsurface contact anchor re-initialization site, the
mass stream is re-accelerated and repositioned to
restore energy consumed along the KESTS pathway,
compensating for live loads and lateral forces on the
KESTS. From this re-initialization site, the mass
stream heads back upward, electromagnetically
dragging weakly against the passive structure around
its path, as well as dragging against coupling to
vehicles tapping that energy to lift them up the KESTS.
The passive structure involves the evacuated tubing in
which it flows, the shear coupling between counter
rotating stream tubes, and the guidance tracks for live
loads such as passenger vehicles. Note that live loads
being lifted along the KESTS exert a downward force
on the structure's mass stream, but live loads which are
decelerating back toward the earth surface exert an
upward force on the tracks thus adding energy back
into the transportation system.
Non-uniform electromagnetic fields couple
kinetic energy between a circulating loop of high
velocity mass, which appear as pulsating magnetic
fields to stationary parts of the mass stream's
environment, inducing alternating currents and defining
the phasing for inputting electrical power into the mass
stream. The mass stream whirling around a planetary
body in an eccentric path, which contacts the surface at
its low point, is squeezed toward the planet by the
weight of portions of the structure which are stationary
relative to the planet.
Each mass stream is contained within the
tubing in which it flows, tubing which excludes the
atmosphere where near the earth, supports vehicular
tracks, defines the path of the mass streams, and
provides structure for the lateral shear coupling
between counter rotating mass streams. Payload is
carried primarily in vehicles on low-friction maglev
tracks, and the vehicles electromagnetically drag on the
upward-bound mass stream when rising up the KESTS.
KESTS to GEO, otherwise known as the
Clarke Belt, would have the advantage of requiring
minimum difficulty embarking and disembarking at
either terminal due to velocities being intrinsically
matched at both ends, potentially a walk-on at
earthsurface ground level,and walk-off into the Clarke
Belt easy process.4,7
KESTS to an Orbital Habitat Ring in Low
Earth Orbit would reduce the need for shielding of the
habitats, and the KESTS would be a significantly
smaller structure. However, there would be a major
difference in velocity between the KESTS, which only
rotates at the angular velocity of the earth, and the Low
Earth Orbit habitats, so this form of KESTS would
need to support a section of electromagnetic rail
accelerator structure, for providing the 18,000 mph
delta v between the KESTS and the Orbital Habitat
Ring in Low Earth Orbit.
KESTS Quasi-Elliptical Shape
The shape of the KESTS is only approximately
elliptical. The armature mass streams experience
external forces all along their length, not only from the
orbital mechanics component of movement in the
planetary gravitational field, but also from the
trajectory compression distributed electromagnetic
drag against the tubing weight support sites, geometric
electromagnetic mass stream benders, solar-electric
powerplant mass thruster sites, and vehicular live
loads, all of which act to distort the KESTS shape from
a true ellipse.
Electromagnetic Mass Stream Benders
To give the mass stream re-initialization site a
somewhat steeper angle above the horizon to work
with, electromagnetic mass stream benders may be
useful. Gravity gradient oriented, and position held by
modulating drag against both upware bound and
downward bound armature mass streams, benders
would put a kink into the shape of the mass stream
passing through it, raising the launch angle slightly.
KESTS Stabilizing Mechanisms
Stability of KESTS structures basically would
come from a balance between the slight upward stretch
energy bias between the mass stream and the weight of
the stationary portions of the structure, the overall
structure being slightly stretched mechanically, taken
up by conventional tensile strength of materials of the
tubing and lateral coupling. Yet a KESTS would also
be an active structure, which can have its shape and
lateral position adjusted by altering the exit velocity
vector of the mass streams at the ground contact re-
initialization site. Position stability would thus also be
controlled by anticipation of changing loads along the
structure, so as to resist wind loads and unbalanced
vehicular loads around the structure's length. All the
differential expected loads need to be integrated into
the re-initialization launch vectors of the mass stream
as it exits the ground site, and the tubing and lateral
shear coupling portions of the structure need to be
strong enough to withstand these forces. If it is found
that dynamic anticipatory position feedback servoing is
inadequate to adequately stabilize the KESTS position,
then passive dampers would need to be installed along
the KESTS.
Stresses in KESTS Tubing
The stresses on the solid part of the structure,
which involves the KESTS tubing structures, include
the tensile load consisting of the weight of the small
section of tubing, lateral shear coupling structure,
maglev tracks on the inside and outside of the tubing,
and live loads riding outside the tubing, as summed
over the distance between electromagnetic drag
mechanism sites on the tubing. These sites are of
necessity very close to each other, perhaps built as an
intrinsically distributed mechanism everywhere in the
tubing. Since electromagnetic drag against the rising
high velocity mass stream is adjusted to almost exactly
match the weight of the solid structure and live loads
summed between drag mechanism sites on the solid
structure, the tubing does not carry significant amounts
of the weight of the rest of the structure, with
longitudinal forces thus very small in the tubing.
The wall thickness of the tubing will be
defined mostly by the above mentioned associated
parameters of KESTS equations for a particular
manifestation of a KESTS structure. It would be a
primary parameter, of course, if the earthsurface-
stationary tubing were supported only by its hanging
on the mass stream, thus requiring a constant stress
tubing crossection and requiring the strength of
perhaps diamond fiber. Such a more efficient KESTS
perhaps will evolve and be built when massive space
manufacturing facilities are available in the relatively
distant future; but the present concept is for KESTS
structures which can be built from existing materials
without requiring significant advances in strength of
available materials, constructible and sustainable in the
relatively near future with only technology
development required. Once the OHR is established,
undoubtedly technology advances will enable the
emplacement of new forms of large scale KESTS built
in zero-g high vacuum manufacture.
Emplacement of KESTS Around the Planet
Emplacing these extraordinarily large bridging
structures represents further engineering challenge.
Bootstrapping processes seem appropriate, building
upon seed KESTS. Some KESTS seed emplacement
techniques include those which either launch & fly a
single orbit back to the launch site trailing seed KESTS
tubing, propelled by reaction thrust of expendable mass
stream components being reversed in direction in the
nose piece, and providing temporary distributed
electromagnetic drag bending resistance to the trailing
tubing; or a rather brute force technique of launch of
the mass stream itself punching through the
atmosphere driven by one of several propulsion
techniques (chemical reaction engines; mass drivers of
various types; or millimeter wave energy beams) upon
which then the initial tubing is laid. Such seed KESTS
launch emplacements surely will be a marvel of
engineering and coordination and courage.
The initial seed KESTS could be emplaced
from the re-initiallization site simultaneously launched
in opposite directions from the equator, propelled by an
expendable mass stream bouncing off the nosepiece of
the rising KESTS, perhaps initially assisted by high
velocity gas against its portions where leaving the
ground, and/or by millimeter wave directed beam
energy inputting power distributed to the already
airborne portions of the KESTS to be used to then heat
air as reaction mass to provide upward thrust
distributed along its length. The nosepiece of the seed
KESTS would be flown like an airplane which is
airborne high yet with portions still on the ground, and
flown around the planet, trailing the seed KESTS
tubing, to again return to the launch site from the
opposite direction; the lateral shear coupling then being
added up both directions starting immediately when
both seed KESTS arrive at the re-initialization site.
Once the seed KESTS is thusly emplaced, it would be
used to support the lifting of ever larger KESTS tubing
structures upon it, bootstrapping until exponentially
built to full capacity size.
Early Emplacement Concepts
The techniques by Loftstrom and Smith
involve laying the loop mechanism on Earth surface
across at least one ocean, then accelerating the loop
mechanism until it rises, or by carrying the upper
portion of the loop aloft with balloons prior to
acceleration. Hyde's vertical form of KESTS would be
built by inserting new evacuated sections at the Earth
surface launch point, incrementally raising the upper
reflector end as sections are added at its surface base.
2,3,4
KESTS Emplacement by Flying Nose-Reaction
Propulsion
construction materials; for example, if the mass stream
is glass fiber with magnetic inclusions in it, delivered
at, say, 4 miles worth per second, accumulates
respectably.9
Chemical Reaction Engine Technology
Emplacement
Another, rather brute force, emplacement
method would use chemical reaction engine technology
to initially accelerate an upward bucket chain of
objects that form the energy storage mechanism that
will eventually support the KESTS. This technique
establishes a parallel contrarotating pair of tubeless
KESTS mass streams first, then installs evacuated
tubing around it, forming the basic structure of the
KESTS. 10

Emplacement as a Millimeter Microwave-Boosted

Launched Mass Stream

Similar to launch by the blast of chemically

powered reaction engine exhaust against it, multiple
beamed millimeter wave energy sources perhaps could
utilize hot air plasma acceleration technology to
The thrust of a mass stream against a structure emplace seed KESTS. 11
which produces a sudden 180 degree turn around of
the mass steam, much as Rod Hyde’s “Starbridge” KESTS to GEO But Not Anchored on the Equator
fountain structure would have done, suggests another
emplacement means. Making the tube diameter a small There may be possible KESTS configurations
fraction of an inch and of flexible tubing would enable which attach to the ground at sites mirrored about the
a small ground construction site and expendable R&D equatorial plane, for example attached at both New
launches. A large circular mass driver would accelerate England and Argentina, or eastern China and western
the mass stream up to, say, 20,000 mph while flowing Australia, instead of connecting at the equator itself.
within evacuated tubing which is configured as a large
coil. At the start of the launch the weight of the nose
thruster, which provides the 180 degree turnaround of
the mass stream within itself, needs to be much less
than the force of the mass stream slamming against it
to be electromagnetically thrown backward by the nose
thruster. Headed upward, the nose thruster would
resemble a conventional reaction engine launch, if the
version merely releases the mass stream into the
environment once it has expended its push against the
nose thruster; more advanced versions would provide
laterally-coupled return tubing for the reversed
returning mass stream packets. The weight of the rising
mass of the uncoiling tubing would be supported by
distributed electromagnetic drag against the mass
stream hurtling through it, as in the conventional
KESTS form. The nose thruster’s trajectory would arch
over and down to the site of the other end of the
KESTS arch. Experience with building ever-longer
arches would increase until the arch has completely
circled the planet to have its landing site be at its
launch site, thus emplacing a seed KESTS into space,
for bootstrapping construction of full capacity
structures. Nose thruster KESTS emplacement
technology offers seed-bootstrapping KESTS,
temporary KESTS, and special one-way materials
delivery systems. A half-arch from ground to GEO Such KESTS structures would have more convenient
conceivably could provide one-way delivery of transportation terminal sites for existing centers of
civilization, and even be a means for transporting
between those distant ground sites by way of space;
although they would have different stabilization
parameters and require perhaps double the construction
materials to build than would equatorial KESTS.
Comparison with Tether Types of Transportation
KESTS perhaps will eventually be supplanted
by centrifugally-supported equatorial tethers, for long-
term sustenance transportation between Earth surface
and near-space. Indeed, KESTS might well provide the
immense payload lift capacity to GEO useful for the
construction materials for such tethers. However, there
are several significant advantages KESTS have in the
relatively near future time frame: first, KESTS do not
need development of carbon monofilliament (diamond
monofilliament) tether material before construction;
second, KESTS do not need to be built starting at
GEO; third, tethers are unlikely to have the enormous
transportation capacity to relocate the 1,000,000 people
per day necessary to shift civilization to the OHR; and
fourth, perhaps most importantly, KESTS inherently
distributes the transportation energy needed to move
payload along their length, without wires.
Basic Psychological Challenges to the Project
Would mankind choose to endure the massive
change of commitments in nearly every field of human
endeavor, rising above entrenched technologies and
cultures, which would be required during the move of
most of civilization to the Orbital Habitat Ring site as
transported by KESTS, even to save their civilization
and the Earth's ecosystem? It is so very difficult to get
out of the entrenched ways of life; the familiar is more
predictable and thus seems more comfortable; and
change produces a sometimes unwelcome stress of
striving to cope with the unexpected. Yet we do choose
to buy new clothes, new computers, new cars, new
homes. So perhaps we will also choose KESTS to
Orbital Habitat Rings around our precious Earth.
Unprecedented universal levels of goodwill
and cooperation will be necessary to fully complete the
KESTS to OHR project, from the direct personal level
to the international level. Mankind will need to reach
new heights of wholesome cooperative work toward
mutual goals, and stay there. Like Eskimos in their
umiak, we survive through Methexis participation.12
Performance Characteristics
1. On KESTS, vehicles traveling between
Earth surface and Earth orbital altitudes do not carry
propulsion fuel. This contrasts with conventional
chemical fueled reaction engine powered launch
vehicles which must utilize the great majority of their
lift capacity to lift the fuel necessary for orbital
insertion. Also, conventional vehicle return to
earthsurface requires energy-wastful heat-shielded
dissipation of vehicular energy during the atmospheric
reentry; but during deceleration of vehicular mass
during return to earthsurface along KESTS occurs, the
electromagnetic braking force supplies lift energy to
the KESTS and thus returns energy back into the
transportation system.
2. KESTS distribute vehicular propulsion
electrical power all along their structures, without
resistive losses of electrical wiring, and without sliding
electrical contacts to extract power for propulsion,
since propulsion energy is coupled inductively from
the mass stream's pulsing magnetic fields.
3. KESTS would somewhat resemble an
electric railway-carrying bridge structure.
4. Powered by electrical energy. Sources of this
electrical power could include existing electrical
commercial power grids, "conventional" SSPS in GEO,
and Mass Stream Solar-Electric Thrusters on the
KESTS. The latter two sources may additionally be
able to supply electrical power back into the earth
surface electrical commercial power grid.
5. KESTS would be "active" structures,
analogous to a kind of airplane that is piloted high in
the sky while propelling itself by pushing on the
ground below it. Stability is highly dependent on servo
position feedback mechanisms which strive to predict
load transients and compensate for them in advance by
appropriate changes in the exit velocity vectors of the
counter rotating mass streams at the Earth surface re-
initialization site; these advance compensations would
ripple through the KESTS at mass stream velocity.
Milestones
1. Milestone one is the successful fabrication
and operation of working models of KESTS which
incorporate all of the functions needed by full scale
KESTS. At the present time, work needs to be done in
envisioning potential capabilities and associated side-
effects, such as contemplated by this paper. Much
work could soon be done in the mathematical analysis
of suborbital mechanics and engineering design,
relevant electromagnetics and materials technology,
with electronic servo concepts readied for use in
automatic adjustment due to varying loads along the
length of the KESTS. Modular armature segments
need to be somewhat standardized providing as small a
stream size as is practical, and providing for bundling
many of these small ones to provide the higher
carrying capacity of a particular application. Enough
technology needs to be developed to build
demonstration functional models for people to look at
and touch, perhaps to ride upon.
4. Creation of KESTS surface-to-surface
bridges to develop the technology into a high reliability
system, while also providing new modes of long range
transportation of large amounts of fuels, water and
other resources. Development of emplacement
techniques.13
2. Since the primary need for KESTS
technology is to enable the Orbital Habitat Ring’s
existence and the transportation of a great number of
people and their belongings to it, perhaps the most
difficult milestone is when humanity realizes there is a
choice, and chooses to “go for the gold”.
3. The next milestone is the actual proving out
of the concept of nearly self-sufficient artificial large
habitats in space, the demonstration that the complex
intertwining mechanical, biological and sociological
systems can harmonize fully adequately. Preassembled
sections of a 1,000-person toroidal research space
habitat design are put into Low Earth Orbit by the
creation of a flyback engine/control type wet launch
module vehicle technology, using the existing proven
technology base used for the Space Shuttle
development. The wheel-shaped space habitat is first
built on the ground in the form of pre-fitted modules
linked in a mile-diameter circle. The design of each
module is for dual use, the other use is for being the
fuel tank of an unmanned engine & control module
vehicle which launches them into Low Earth Orbit.
The unmanned engine/control module flies back to the
launch site for the next module's launch, much as the
present space shuttle returns to the Earth's surface. Use
these unmanned wet-launched prefitted modules to
build artificial gravity space habitats made of circles of
these linked modules to prove out the hypothesis that
Earth surface gravity and atmospheric pressure in a
rotating toroid can provide functional stability in a
group living situation which includes other life forms
in a harmonious synthesis. 14
5. First adequately shielded space habitat in
GEO Orbital Habitat Ring a 10,000-person space
settlement built from Earth materials, brought up on a
KESTS bridge. This develops the functional structural
design with components built comparatively easily on
the Earth's surface. Outfitting the interior of the space
settlement to include as many earth-normal features as
possible. Tests out agricultural systems, condominium
homes on the interior slopes, and creative harmonious
social systems, and millions of the other things needing
to be tested out there too. In a reference design of
1976, each colonist effectively has 26 fish, 6.2
chickens, 2.8 rabbits, and 1/7 of a cow, and the plant
diet for these animals is grown on the habitat in lunar
soil about 1 foot deep. Housing of the colonists is on
terraced condominiums along the sides slopes inside
the rotating wheel habitat, including 45 square yards
per person for residential and community life, 5 square
yards per person for mechanical and life support
systems, and 21 square yards per person for agriculture
and food processing.15,16
6. Long term electrical power to support the
kinetic energy bridges needs to come from space
resources instead of relying on Earth resources.
Dedicated SSPS in GEO is one possibility; solar-
electric mass stream thrusters hanging on KESTS is
another possibility. Thrusters would use solar energy
converted into electrical energy to accelerate the
downward direction of the kinetic mass stream so as to
replenish the energy consumed by the support of the
bridge structure and for moving payloads along it. The
thrust of that acceleration would be against the weight
of the power converter, being located along the bridge
at points below synchronous orbit.7
7. The bulk of the physical structure to be built
in the Clarke Belt around the Earth would need to be
built out of space resources. The Moon is handy and
has plentiful resources of such materials as aluminum
and titanium. Transport this material from the Moon's
surface to the vicinity of the site for the Orbital Habitat
Ring, efficiently and with a minimum of pre-
industrialization of the Moon: investigate forms of
materials-pumps utilizing the greater depth of potential
energy of the adjacent Earth's gravity well, to lift
materials up out of the Moon's gravity well. One way
to do this is to store the energy as angular momentum:
an Earth-Moon two-body orbiting Skyhook one-
direction materials pump, which picks up packaged
payloads from the far side of the Moon on a tether,
payload and spacecraft tethered whirling together
around their common center-of-gravity as they
continue around the Moon and into Earth's gravity
well, the spacecraft regaining its energy through
appropriately timed release of the payload from a
lengthened tether deep into Earth's gravity well. This
concept draws from Hans Moravec’s creation of the
spinning Skyhook concept. Lunar mass drivers, and
lunar elevator tethers through L1 are other technologies
worthy of consideration for this purpose.17,18
8. Successful full-size fully functional habitats
built on site in Earth orbit from lunar construction
materials, such as the 10,000-person toroidal design.
9. Robotically-built basic habitat shell structure
made on site at OHR altitude out of lunar materials.
10. Sustainable construction rate of 300
orbiting habitats robotically-built per day in the OHR
from lunar/asteroidal raw materials.
11. First million square kilometers of
earthsurface restored back into pre-civilization
ecosystem state.
12. Construction/population of second Orbiting
Habitat Ring, populated by 7 billion descendants of
first habitat ring's thriving growing population.
13. Complete restoration of the earth surface
ecosystem back to nearly pre-civilization conditions,
with a rotating population of only 100 million people
on the Earth surface at any one time, composed of
ecosystem restoration and maintenance workers, and
national park vacationers.

Safety and Reliability Issues
Safety and reliability of KESTS structures is a
primary consideration of the concept’s application. Not
only to that which might be injured by falling pieces of
damaged KESTS, but also to other KESTS, to the
people and payload on the KESTS at the time, and to
those dependent on KESTS-delivered products both in
the Orbiting Habitat Ring and on the Earth surface.
Aircraft crash liability and shipping liability models
may be starting points for these issues. It is hoped that
empirical experience in developing this technology will
minimize these substantial risks; and the use of KESTS
seed emplacement and bootstrapping construction
processes will start with small risk, and thereafter gain
confidence with experience and growing size of the
first KESTS being built to GEO. The seed KESTS are
envisioned preferably as being of tubing size a small
fraction of an inch in diameter, minimizing possible
damage worldwide upon its fall in a developmental
testing crash of a seed KESTS.
Some Research Questions
1. Stability of the KESTS structure: how high
can it go while remaining able to cope with unbalanced
transient forces upon it? What are those expected
forces? How much wobble will be present at any point
along it, particularly at the site of embarkation to the
habitat ring? Can its active position servo system be
adequately damped to prevent uncontrolled oscillations
in the feedback loop? What is the ratio of active
feedback damping vs. energy-consuming passive
damping structures distributed along KESTS?
2. What is the traffic volume necessary for a
given size KESTS, at the break-even point, considering
the energy input required just to maintain support of
the structure?
3. Pulsing magnetic fields present a hazard to
living beings: The coupling of the mass stream to the
enclosing tube structure and to vehicles moving along
the structure is primarily of a pulsing electromagnetic
nature. What hazard does this present to passengers,
since some studies have linked such ELF fields to
diseases such as alzeheimers and leukemia; can design
minimize such ELF fields in cargo and passenger parts
of the vehicles?
4. What kind of industrial business system can
possibly remain responsible to the long term goals of
an expanding civilization and restoration of the earth
surface ecosystem?
5. Willingness of the majority of present-day
Earth surface population to leave their lifelong homes
to migrate to the orbiting habitat ring: people are
attached to the familiar, and often have worked much
of their lifetime to provide the home they now live in
with their family, and are not likely to easily choose to
leave it all. The value of their real estate will need to be
adequately returned to them somehow in the overall
process. And those whose fortunes are dependent on
the real estate wealth they have currently amassed, will
need assurance of equivalent wealth in the new
civilization site somehow. Who will provide the money
for all this? Can there be a one-for-one correspondence
of real estate on the ground with real estate in the
habitat ring? And can life in the habitat ring be
guaranteed sufficiently better than that on earthsurface
to provide the incentive to migrate? 1
6. Can there be multiple KESTS, or would the
crossover sites provide risk of crashing together in
space? Can these crossover points be made deliberately
coupled, even providing additional stability to the
overall KESTS system?
7. What effects of the mass stream’s
electromagnetic flow within the earth’s magnetic field?
8. The entire KESTS structure must rotate once
every 24 hours, as it is attached solidly to the earth
surface. Lateral coupling between upward and
downward mass stream provides the mechanism to
swing the enclosed mass streams around with the
rotation of the earth, but what are the magnitudes of the
distributed lateral force between the mass streams and
tubing, and how much weight does this structure add to
the KESTS? These are important parameters for
KESTS equations.
9. Given the transfer of most of most of
civilization to the Orbital Habitat Rings around the
Earth, 15 billion people in the hypothetical example
given here illustratively, there would be plenty of spare
mile-diameter 600 feet wide toroidal habitats, which
could be used to re-create small copies of earthsurface
natural ecosystems. Those local zoological parks
conceivably could be ark-like backups for all of the
original earthsurface species, including the largest land
and marine mammals. Those space-based zoological
gardens would be excellent research sites for the
restoration and maintenance of the giant national park
that the earthsurface could become, preserving
precious biological genetic resource pools of
biodiversity for the future. What will be the managerial
processes that ensure this will happen?
In Conclusion
Kinetic Energy Supported Transportation
Structures potentially have some interesting properties,
primarily as a supportive structure for efficient
electrically powered rail transportation, and also as a
distributor of transportation energy along itself, as an
energy storage system, and possibly as a provider of
space solar-derived electric power to earthsurface
commercial electric power grids. The compressive
strength of these enormous structures bridging between
earthsurface and space is greatly augmented by radially
compressing supra-orbital velocity mass streams
whirling within a bridging structure around the planet,
their outward centrifugal force providing primary
support for the weight of the enclosing tubing structure
and its associated track and vehicle system;
electromagnetic drag against the high velocity rising
armature mass stream providing distributed support of
the weight of the earthsurface-stationary parts of the
structure. Similarly, vehicular propulsion energy is
electromagnetically coupled from the armature mass
stream to vehicles carrying payload along tracks on its
tubing, thus lift energy is distributed intrinsically to the
point of need. Only a small fraction of kinetic energy
within the mass stream is consumed per transit loop, so
there is much energy stored in the system, providing
some resiliency. KESTS to GEO would provide the lift
capacity for building large scale Solar Satellite Power
Stations in GEO, thus providing electric power for
itself and for sale to others; additionally, solar-electric
powered mass thrusters mounted on the KESTS itself
may be able to input power enough to maintain support
of the KESTS and provide surplus electric power for
use on Earth surface electric power grids, delivered by
the mass stream instead of by microwave energy.
Bootstrapping construction from seed KESTS which is
emplaced by mass stream nose thrust-reversing flyable
versions is described as one emplacement technique for
these massive structures. A KESTS configuration for
direct access from higher earth latitudes is described,
utilizing surface contact points which are mirrored
about the equatorial plane. KESTS concepts suggest to
us a way to move ourselves and our civilization's
belongings far and high into Earth orbit, enabling earth
life to massively occupy the relatively motionless orbit
of the Clarke Belt. The decision to research and
develop the technology of kinetic energy supported
electrically powered transportation structures would be
a major step toward true large scale colonization of
space, preserving a vigorous expanding civilization and
restoring the Earth’s surface ecosystem at the same
process, hopefully beginning in our time.
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