Buduburam, Ghana - Victor Tagborloh, Co- founder and CEO of Galaxy Aerospace Ghana has announced the beginning of the space elevator project that will enable them to take Ghana to space by 2030. “We are starting our journey of creating the space elevator to orbit this May. And this marks the beginning of our journey to space and as a country a lot of things will change for us”. Speaking at the opening session of the Science Journalism Ghana Media Fellowship program, he explains charting this course for the next generation will be the best investment for their future.

WHAT DOES THIS SPACE ELEVATOR EVEN MEAN?

Space elevator -Space Bridge is a pathway which aids space explorers to travel from earth to space. It is the planet-to-space transportation system often depicted in science fiction but to the physical world a cable nick -named (tether) which is connected to the surface and extended to space for maintaining balance. Experts say, unlike telecommunication mask, an earth-based space tower cannot be constructed with a tall tower supported from the ground due to the weight it carries - instead, it would consist of a cable with one end attached to the surface near the equator and the other end attached to a counterweight in space beyond geostationary orbit of 35,786 km altitude. Being the first private space firm to embark on this journey in West Africa would mean creating access that permit vehicles to travel directly between a planetary surface, such as the Earth's, and orbit, without the use of large expensive rockets.

HOW WOULD SPACE ELEVATORS AFFECT THE AVERAGE GHANAIAN?

You may call it space renaissance and it promises to offer the Ghanaian economy more than anticipated. The telecommunication sector will see much growth. " For example, we will have much faster telecommunication rates—you can have any kind of data rates you want, and video phones will be as common as cell phones”. Another area that will experience a boost is the solar power energy that will reduce the country’s dependence on oil. “We will collect solar energy from the sun and that can relieve our dependence on oil. That in itself, will change a lot of things. That will mean the country will reduce pollution from carbon-monoxide, he said.

ARE THERE POTENTIAL DRAWBACKS TO OPENING SPACE THIS WAY?

Brad Edwards - Physicist and space-elevator visionary describes this in a piece by pbs.org as a necessary means of exploring everything given to mankind. "Everything we do has the potential for creating some bad. If we mine an asteroid, the asteroid's going to look ugly, just like mining here on earth. But I think the benefits of opening up space far outweigh the damage that we can see—benefits in terms of gaining energy from space to replace oil, additional capabilities in terms of telecommunications, manufacturing in space, additional real estate exploration."

DOES IT MEAN PEOPLE WILL LEAVE LAND AND GRAB SPACE IN FUTURE?

"It's very possible. If you're charging 100 a pound to go into space, you may get people interested in Mars saying, 'Let's send up a habitat and place it on Mars.' It may quickly turn into lots of people doing that, as soon as the elevators get larger and the price goes down even further. I'm not sure whether there would be a net positive or negative from the land grab, and I think we need to think about that. But there are plenty of planets up there!