Harvesting resources from a geostationary point 100km above sea level

Consider a planet which is entirely Earth-like. Same mass, same rotation, etc. But in this world, resource-rich objects are suspended by some phenomenon at varying altitudes up to 200km above sea level (effectively from the surface, since the highest point, Mt Everest, is >9km above sea level). Clarification: some are at 200km, some are at 5km, 50km... They are fixed relative to the planet's rotation, thereby always being above the same point on the surface. The resource is valuable, and must be harvested by a machine such as a modern backhoe loader (e.g. the arm on the back of a JCB digger).

How might a society with approximately our level of technology exploit these resources?

Up to perhaps ~10km, specialized helicopters or airships could be flown.

Anything at or above the Kármán line would pose a problem: the orbital period is 1 day, but the altitude and hence orbital velocity is far lower. An asteroid in a Keplerian orbit would be straightforward, if not cheap to harvest: a spacecraft could match its orbit. But in this case, if a regular spacecraft or spaceplane attempted to orbit at the same altitude, it would fly past the target very quickly.

Between the limit of helium balloons and the edge of space, there may be other problems.

How could people harvest the resources of the higher objects?

posted almost 6 years ago

Valentin Aslanyan‭

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