Guldian

Guldian is an Orbital Ring that circles the planet Trowo. It is perhaps the most important single structure on (or above) the planet, contributing directly or indirectly to over 60% of its Gross Product. Taking over 35 years to assemble, it is not indispensable in terms of space launch to Low-Orbit and beyond, as well as receiving people and goods from other celestial bodies.

History and Etymology
Guldian comes from the Unitican words Guld meaning "world" or "home" and Dian which means "one" or "first". It was one of the first megastructures proposed by the Society of Astroengineers even before year 0 as a cheap and efficient method to transport and receiving items into orbit. As it does not rely on advanced materials (other than superconductors), it was considered as one of the primary structures to be built after the reconstruction of cities after the war.

The first segments of Guldian were assembled above Suaes funded by the taxpayers of United Trowo in the year 17. Launches delivering parts of the ring were heavily protested against in the first 3 years of construction on grounds that those funds would be better utilized rebuilding smaller cities. Syailrithan Spaceport One and Acha Gateway were sabotaged by the group Lives and Lives for Shelter First and progressed was slowed for over 4 years, as only Kýyomi Spaceport and Nganga Stairway remained available for space launches.

The main prograde cable was completed after 12 years, after which the stationary platform over Hénsen was completed. Hénsen was chosen due to its fortifiable position against the remaining protestors The first elevator link section to Hénsen was completed in just 6 months, after which construction progressed exponentially. The main retrograde cable was completed in 2 years and further extensions to the main cables were completed in year 31. The main ring and elevator/tether structures were announced to be complete in the year 48, with 3 major platforms over Suaes, Syailrithan and Hénsen. Ringports were added sequentially to the platform, with a maglev spanning the whole ring being completed in the year 50. With the cities of Futura, Acha, Khakhahan, Nganga and Indiraman connected in the year 51, it was deemed featurally complete.

Structure
Guldian is made of 4 main components, the cables, the platform, the anchors and the riders.

Cables
The structures that are collectively known as cables of the ring are the Prograde cable and the Retrograde cable. These cables orbit seperately from one another, and are made of alloyed copper and stainless steel. They are individually 1m in diameter, made of even smaller thinner cables wound up to provide for extra tensile strength. A strong electric current is pass through them, which causes them to generate an magnetic field. The cables weigh in total over 700 million tons, and are kept in orbit due to their speed of rotation, which is faster than required for their orbit. This excess centrifugal force is balanced by the weight of the platform and riders, and provides stability in tandem with the anchors.