The Space Elevator

<p data-rte-fromparser="true">[Excerpt from article, "Stairways to Heaven" by Dr. Angelina M. Allen] 
</p><p data-rte-fromparser="true" data-rte-empty-lines-before="1">Early <a data-rte-meta="%7B%22type%22%3A%22internal%22%2C%22text%22%3A%22United%20States%22%2C%22link%22%3A%22United%20States%22%2C%22wasblank%22%3Atrue%2C%22noforce%22%3Atrue%2C%22wikitext%22%3A%22%5B%5BUnited%20States%5D%5D%22%7D" data-rte-instance="61196-1499258409592ad0550bf78" href="/wiki/United_States" title="United States">United States</a> dominance of the first operational space elevator - the White Stork Tower - has allowed them to control almost all orbital activities and commerce. 
</p><p data-rte-fromparser="true" data-rte-empty-lines-before="1">Now the rest of the world is playing catch-up. The World Union of Space Industry (WUSI) has calculated that using the Stork facility to aid in construction of a second space elevator would result in construction costs that are one-quarter of the original. 
</p><p data-rte-fromparser="true" data-rte-empty-lines-before="1">Understandably, US officials have balked at the idea of helping competitors build a cheaper platform that could give them a competitive advantage. Stork representatives maintain that the sizable investment risks for the original platform justify the protection of this economic space. 
</p><p data-rte-fromparser="true" data-rte-empty-lines-before="1">In the meantime, WUSI has aggressively moved to purchase ideal sites for future space elevators. Essentially space-age squatting.
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