Dubai to have skyscraper anchored in space

A New York-based firm is proposing that Dubai be the site of a futuristic, world’s next tallest tower suspended downward on an asteroid orbiting 50,000km from earth.

The speculative Analemma Tower - which is being proposed by the Clouds Architecture Office - is designed to be suspended downward on an asteroid that would orbit in a figure-eight pattern across the northern and southern hemispheres in a 24-hour cycle each day.

Analemma, is an inverted form of traditional system of an earth-based foundation as it depends on a space-based supporting foundation from which the tower is suspended. This system is referred to as the Universal Orbital Support System (UOSS).

The company’s website notes, "By placing a large asteroid into orbit over earth, a high-strength cable can be lowered towards the service of earth from which a super tall tower can be suspended. Since this new tower typology is suspended in the air, it can be constructed anywhere in the world and transported to its final location."

According to the designers of Clouds Architecture, the best location for Analemma to be constructed is Dubai, which has proven to be a specialist in tall building construction at one-fifth of the cost of New York City construction.

The initial design - which Clouds Architecture is billing as "the world's tallest tower" - includes separate parts of the tower dedicated to business; sleeping quarters; devotional activities; a gardening and agricultural centre; "transfer stations" that allow for the transfer of people and goods between the earth's surface and the orbiting structure; and space for dining, shopping and entertainment.

The tallest point of the tower above earth is planned for about 32,000 metres above ground. The source of power would be space-based solar panels and water to be filtered and recycled in a semi-closed loop, and re-filled with condensation captured from rain and clouds.

Along with the figure-eight pattern motion of the orbit, the tower would move in the slowest speed at the top and bottom of the figure eight. "The proposed orbit is calibrated so the slowest part of the tower's trajectory occurs over New York City," the website adds.

Clouds Architecture assures that the project is not a figment of science fiction but a fact as NASA has scheduled an asteroid retrieval mission for 2021 which aims to prove the feasibility of capturing and relocating an asteroid.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2017