Alternatives other than compressive structures, such as tethers hanging down from high-altitude balloons or superconductor-based magnetic levitation, could take advantage of how: the characteristic length of Kevlar and some other macro-scale material performance in tension (instead of compression) is up to hundreds of kilometers; compressive buckling becomes no longer applicable; and setup might be simpler.
Alternatives other than compressive structures, such as tethers hanging down from high-altitude balloons or superconductor-based magnetic levitation, may take advantage of how the characteristic length of Kelvar and some other macro-scale material performance in tension (instead of compression) is up to hundreds of kilometers; compressive buckling becomes no longer applicable; and setup may be simpler.