Talk:International Space Elevator/@comment-25836465-20180918201723/@comment-25161269-20180919093114

I do agree that 100,000km is a bit extreme, but so is 100km. The Karman Line (62 miles/100km high) isn't a marker for space. It's simply a point when the atmosphere thins to a point where there's almost no discernable difference between the thermosphere and the exosphere.

An orbital elevator usually has its platform at the point of geosynchronous orbit (42,164 km/26,199 miles), with the counterweight a few thousand km further away. However, depending on the types of payloads being launched, the length can be changed. An elevator for satellites for Earth and the moon can be less than 50,000km. However, with an orbital elevator around 140,000km, you can release a probe with enough velocity to reach the orbit of at least Jupiter, and then use Jupiter to gravity assist out further.

So my guess is that Lighthouse is for probes for Mars and maybe further, on top of the Earth and Moon.