A inflatable tower reaching 20 km above sea level could save on rocket launches and provide an amazing view (Image: NASA) A 7-metre-tall demonstration tower stands in a stairwell (Image: Thoth Technology Inc)

A GIANT inflatable tower could carry people to the edge of space without the need for a rocket, and could be completed much sooner than a cable-based space elevator, its proponents claim.

Inflatable pneumatic modules already used in some spacecraft could be assembled into a 15-kilometre-high tower, say Brendan Quine, Raj Seth and George Zhu at York University in Toronto, Canada, writing in Acta Astronautica (DOI: 10.1016/j.actaastro.2009.02.018 …