A Ribbon Climber System for a Static Orbital Tether: Drive Power, Ascent Time and Thermal Budgets

This study sizes the system named in its title from stated physical relations and a stated operating basis, and reports the result as SIMULATED, NOT MEASURED. The operating principle is wheeled climber ascending the static tether ribbon under beamed and onboard power. The climber is a civilian cargo transport vehicle intended to carry freight and supplies along the tether to orbit; it carries no payload other than transport cargo and tether inspection equipment. Every performance figure is computed by the deposited script from its inputs rather than asserted, and the headline outcomes include traction force required at departure of 148.8 kilonewtons; peak electrical drive power of 4.843 megawatts; photovoltaic area for the beamed-power link of 3004.4 square metres; total ascent time to geostationary radius including the inspection hold of 3.35 days. Mass, power, time and energy budgets are assembled from components so they can be audited line by line, off-design behaviour is discussed openly, and the limits of the sizing are stated in full. The design is presented as a civilian system throughout, with its governing constraint identified and quantified rather than merely encountered.