The Space Elevator (Civ4)/Final Frontier/Civilopedia

Space Elevators had existed in various incarnations since the mid twenty-first century, but truly reliable elevators made their debut at the dawn of the twenty-third. Granting a stable space-based platform from which industry or military interests could perform projects, these updated elevators were the key to developing more specialized spacecraft. The class Bomber and class Stealth Ship owe their existence almost solely to these new types of Space Elevators, which eased off-planet construction. The anchors of such elevators gradually grew more elaborate, adding habitation systems and other luxuries, leading to the creation of the first space-based markets. These advances culminated in the heart of all space-based trade, the Stardock.