The Earth terminus of the space elevator has been discussed in general terms since the very beginning of the concept. In fact, Professor Tsiolkovsky started with a very tall tower on the Earth and went upward with his ideas. Dr. Edwards defined the Earth Port as on the equator and referred to it as a Marine Node. Since then, there have been many discussions and assertions. As such, a definitive look at the lower terminus of a space elevator seems timely. This led the International Space Elevator Consortium (ISEC) to the selection of the Earth Port description as its yearly topic in 2015. This ISEC focus enabled the community to contribute towards a designated goal of describing the requirements for building and operating a marine node. This paper provides the ISEC view of an Earth Port: serves as a mechanical and dynamical termination of the space elevator tether; serves as a port for receiving and sending Ocean-Going Vessels (OGVs); provides landing pads for helicopters from the OGVs; serves as a facility for attaching and detaching payloads to and from tether climbers; provides tether climber power for the 40 km above the Floating Operations Platform (FOP); and, provides food and accommodation for crew members as well as power, desalinization, waste management and other support activities.
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