FASTER, PLEASE: Space Elevators Getting First Test in Space. “There are several technical reasons why space elevators have not been seriously attempted in the over 100 years since they were originally dreamed up by Russian scientist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky in 1895. Chief among them is that a cable capable moving from the surface of the planet through orbit all the way to a counterpoint in space would have to lighter and stronger than any known material due to the extreme stresses it would face.”