does it need to be constructed at the equator? how is this wire get spanned between earth/space. how long to ascend? how much weight per assent. is this really just down to a materials science problem?It doesn't technically need to be at the equator but it'd be much much simpler and more realistic to build one there. Otherwise you could build a pair of base stations in the north and south that both connect to the space counterweight, or just a single northern base station that has very dynamic loads as the counterweight oscillates north and south.
There's no known way to currently build one since we don't have the materials to build them. You could just launch a rocket straight up with a wire attached if the material is light enough to allow that. Ascension time and weight also just depend on engineering.
Very few people take space elevators on Earth seriously because they could easily be hundreds of years away from being possible. On different planets or moons they're a lot more realistic but we don't have a reason to build them yet.
If you're interested in space elevators, you might also be interested in spinlaunch. They're working to throw stuff to space.
