加拿大一家科技公司宣布，已获得美国的专利，兴建一座高达两万米的可充气太空电梯，大大减少宇宙飞船发射成本，希望开创太空旅游新时代。

    这座计划兴建的通天塔，外部由加固的充气组件组成，塔中间是空的，可以容许运载电梯升降。这座太空电梯建成后，将高达两万米，比目前人造的最高建筑物高出超过二十倍。宇航员和运载火箭将先搭乘太空电梯，进入位于平流层的电梯顶端发射平台，然后再点火起飞进入太空。负责工程师表示，由于飞行器不再需要携带大量燃料协助自己从陆地起飞，这项技术比传统火箭节约30%以上的燃料，进一步减轻私营航天公司发展太空旅游的成本。太空塔模型样品预计需要3至5年完成。

　Canada is Planning a Space Elevator

　　A Canadian technology company announces that its inflatable space elevator stretching 20 km into the sky has granted a U.S.A. patent.The freestanding space tower would be pneumatically pressurised and be 20 times the height of current tall structures.Astronauts and rockets would ascend to 20km by electrical elevator.From the top of the structure a single stage could launch a space plane directly into low Earth orbit.The technology offers an exciting new way to access space using completely reusable hardware and saving more than 30 percent of the fuel of a conventional rocket, lessening the cost for private aerospace companies to develop space tour business. The space tower model would be finished in 3 to 5 years.