This week’s edition of Weekend Walkabout starts in Europe, moves on for a stop in Brazil and winds up in India. And we get not one, but two new translations of Space Elevator…

We start in Europe where the WARR Student Group at the Technical University of Munich hosted the most recent space elevator related competition, EUSPEC 2024. Four teams competed: Space Robotics, Alpha Centauri, Inoue Lab Team and Meier’s 11. Check out their webpage for more details and also photos of the competition.

From the EUSPEC 2024 webpage – credit TUM/WARR.

The people behind this competition are the WARR Space Robotics people. From their website: “WARR Space Robotics is an interdisciplinary team of robotics enthusiasts at the Technical University of Munich. The team is the result of the merger of the former WARR exploration (founded in 2017) and WARR space elevator (founded in 2007) teams in 2023.” A January blog post briefly describes their participation in the Japan Space Elevator Challenge (JSPEC) held last December in Fuji, Japan.

The EUSPEC 2024 webpage mentions EUSPEC 2026 so besides the hoped-for-revival of the Space Elevator Games, we have another competition to look forward to.

Next we jet to Brazil, where this very cool artwork by Dave Seeley imagines a space elevator located on a river in Brazil.

Looking at a map, we can see that the north branch of the Amazon River exits Brazil into the Atlantic Ocean at Macapá, the capital of the Brazilian state of Amapá. What’s really cool about this is that the equator runs right through the middle of Macapá, giving it the nickname “The Capital of the Middle of the World“. And, as we all know, the equator is the prime location to place a Space Elevator. What’s even more cool is the flag of Macapá (pictured). The flag’s red, yellow, and green stripes frame a silver Fortaleza de São José tower silhouette, eerily resembling a climber on a tether. Did a time traveler design that flag?

In Macapá, locals might call a space elevator ‘Elevador Espacial’ in Portuguese, the official language of Brazil.

Finally, we land in India, a potential powerhouse for a future Space Elevator. I’ve often written about how I think that India could be a real contender when a Space Elevator becomes feasible. The Edwards/Westling seminal book on Space Elevators identified a couple of locations in the Indian ocean that could be prime locations for a Space Elevator Earthport and, of course, India has direct sea lanes to those locations and a real Navy that could defend them. A space elevator could boost India’s space ambitions, complementing its navy’s strength and strategic Indian Ocean access.

Business Today India recently posted a nice series of graphics (“22,000-mile cable to space”) about a potential space elevator.

And, if the Indians ever get serious about this, they’ll probably want to purchase the website spaceelevator.in – which is already taken by the Space Elevator company. From their website: “At Space Elevator, We’re Committed to Raising Your Expectations When It Comes To Vertical Transportation Solutions…Space Elevator Is A Distinguished Name In the World of Elevators And Lifts, Known For Excellence in Manufacturing And Providing Top-NotchServices“. Sounds good to me…

And this brings us to our weekly Translation Project updates. This week we’re going to get two new translations, not just one.

India has 22 scheduled (official) languages but has many more – the 2011 Indian Census recorded over a thousand distinct “mother tongues”. Of these, the languages with the most speakers are Hindi (by far), followed by Bengali and Telugu. I already have the Hindi translation in the Translation Project and am now adding Bengali and Telugu.

Bengali: মহাকাশ লিফট (Mahākāśa liphaṭa – “Great Sky Lift” or “Space Lift” – Fun fact: In addition to being the second most common language spoken in India, Bengali is the official language of Bangladesh.

Telugu: అంతరిక్ష ఎలివేటర్ (Antariksha elevēṭar – “Space Elevator” or “Cosmos Elevator”

And that’s a wrap for this week’s Weekend Walkabout.

Longtime readers of this blog may recall my Translation Project, an effort to translate the phrase “Space Elevator” into as many languages as possible. Before the blog went into hibernation, I had gathered 30 translations—spanning both real and constructed languages—with help from several readers. You can view the current list by clicking on the Translation Project tab near the top of the blog.

Another familiar feature was my “Weekend Walkabout,” a (mostly) weekly post exploring space elevator-related items around the world. I’m pleased to reintroduce both, combining them starting this week. Each week, I’ll add a new translation to the Translation Project and discuss it (among other topics) in my Weekly Walkabout posts. And without further ado…

Translation of the Week: Swahili – Lifti ya Anga

This week, I’m adding Swahili, spoken by over 100 million people across East Africa, to our space elevator translations. The term Lifti ya Anga (“elevator of space”) captures the dream of ascending to the cosmos. It’s particularly fitting since Swahili is chiefly spoken in Eastern Africa, a region transected by the equator—the ideal location for a space elevator’s Earth Port due to Earth’s rotational forces. Cities like Nairobi could be prime candidates for a future spaceport hub, though challenges like regional security concerns would need to be addressed. Pronunciation: “LEE-f-tee yah AH-ng-ah” (Tips: Emphasize the “LEE” and “AH” sounds, and keep the “ng” soft, like in “sing,” not “finger.”)

To celebrate, I’ve created a kanga-inspired graphic—a traditional Swahili fabric often adorned with wise proverbs. Our space-elevator-themed proverb, “Kupanda nyota, ngazi kwanza” (“To climb the stars, a ladder first”), reflects the space elevator’s role as humanity’s ladder to the stars. The kanga features a baobab tree (Swahili: mbuyu, pronounced “mm-BOO-yoo”) with a tether rising from it and surrounded by baobab flowers. I know I’ll never win any graphic design awards, but I hope I get at least a passing mark for effort…

Shifting gears to Japan, the Oita Space Hike 2024 event last October caught my attention for its space elevator tie-in. Held on October 12–13 at J:COM Horuto Hall in Oita, this space education event—organized by Oita Prefecture and Oita Asahi Broadcasting (OAB)—aimed to inspire young people with hands-on space activities. One of its experience booths featured a Space Elevator Climber Programming Experience, where students programmed a simulated climber to navigate a tether, addressing real-world challenges like speed and stability. This kind of engagement is crucial for nurturing the next generation of space elevator innovators, especially in Japan, a hub for space elevator research with initiatives like Obayashi Corporation’s 2050 vision. I’ve reached out to my old acquaintance Shuichi Ohno from my JSEA days to see if he can share more about this event—stay tuned for updates!

And that’s a wrap for this week’s Weekend Walkabout!