Mombasa Tether

The New Mombasa Orbital Elevator, as seen in the 3D model viewing program Entity UE

"The Mombasa space elevator!"
"It divides of collapsed when the city got razed."
"But the tower was thousands of kilometers high..."
"Yeah, but now it's scattered all over the savanna."

— Two Marines discussing the fate of the Space Elevator.

The New Mombasa Orbital Elevator is a large space elevator located at the heart of the East African Protectorate city of New Mombasa on Earth. It is used for lifting heavy ordinance from the surrounding port facilities into an orbital station at the top of the elevator structure, a transport method much cheaper and more efficient than booster rockets filled with expensive fuel.

As a cheap gateway to space, the elevator is the key to New Mombasa's economic and strategic importance. The presence of the elevator radically changed the structure of the city -- service roads and a Mag-lev line radiate out from its base, connecting it to nearby warehouses and factories, while a large artificial canal has been dug through the city center to provide more docking space for incoming cargo vessels. And it was this influx of business and trade brought in by the elevator that made New Mombasa the metropolis it was by the time of the Covenant invasion.

Halo 2

The space elevator as seen during the Halo 2 campaign, with Regret's flagship holding position nearby

The space elevator is visible throughout all the Earth levels of the game, first as a thin line on the horizon in Outskirts, then later as a ringed tower in the skyline of Metropolis. Only at the end of that level is the player offered an unobstructed view of the structure from across the artificial canal.

At the end of the campaign level Metropolis, the flagship of the Prophet of Regret flees into slipspace with the In Amber Clad in hot pursuit. This in-atmosphere jump unleashes a wave of energy that scours the area, but the tower still stood.

Halo 3 Recon

The New Mombasa Orbital Elevator is also seen in the Halo 3 Recon Trailer, it can be seen when the ODST drop pods come in as the Superintendent watches. After the EMP blast from Regret, the tower can still clearly be seen but its ring supports are tilted and is is clearly on the verge of collapse.

Halo 3

File:H3 Outskirts 1.jpg

The elevator's stabilizer rings lie shattered on the savanna in this concept art for Tsavo Highway.

The elevator was not seen again until the Halo 3 Announcement Trailer, in which several of its stabilizer rings lay shattered in the background hills. Concept art from the Halo 3 Zune confirmed that the wreckage of the space elevator would play an important part in the design of the Earth levels.

The elevator did make an appearance in the final game, with the player fighting through its ruins throughout Tsavo Highway and even hearing some dialogs concerning its fate from Marine allies. The detritus of the elevator is presumably cleaned up by the end of the game, as its rings are not seen in the background of the final Earth-based cutscenes.