The space elevator

Fenrir space platform at the end of the space elevator.

If you want to understand how a space elevator works, imagine you are swinging a ball in circles at the end of a string. It stays there, in orbit, always at the end of the string. What makes it move? What keeps it in rein? You are twisting the string, turning the ball. The string is pulling on it at the exact angle to keep it in orbit, not letting it fly away. Try to release and check for yourself.

Now imagine that you attach a space station to a string from the Earth's equator. If the station is going sufficiently slow, the string will weigh on the station, the station itself will weigh towards the surface of the planet and … hasta la vista. If you are sufficiently far from the earth, the ball will tend to turn slower than Earth, the string, however, will pull forward onto it trying at the same time accelerate it out of orbit, and keep it at close range. An equilibrium is established that has no reason to break. You have a space station, you have a string attached to it, you just need the ants to climb up and down in space bringing humans and bananas.