Japanese engineers are drawing up plans to put tourists into space within 40 years using a massive elevator that travels more than 22,000 miles into orbit.
If created, up to 30 passengers at a time would spend a week travelling a quarter of a way to the moon at speeds of 120mph.
At the end they would reach a space station where they could get an astronaut’s view of the Earth with little or no training beforehand.
There are also plans that could allow scientists to travel beyond this first station using carbon fibre ribbon that is anchored to our planet from a satellite in space.
The construction, which echoes the vision of British science fiction author Arthur C Clarke, is estimated to cost £6billion.
Satomi Katsuyama, the project’s creator, said: ‘Humans have long adored high towers. But rather than building it from the earth, we will construct it from the space.’
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