Mombasa Tether

"It collapsed when the city got glassed."
"But the tower was thousands of kilometers high."
"Yeah. Well now it's scattered all over the Savannah."
"Holy crap!"

— Two Marines discussing the fate of the Space Elevator.

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The New Mombasa skyline with the Elevator at center

The New Mombasa Orbital Elevator is a massive Space Elevator located at the center of the city of New Mombasa on Earth. The elevator, which is the focal point for the city, stretches far into the planet's orbit. It is used for lifting heavy ordinance into the atmosphere of the planet using a magnetic lift that negates the use of rockets or waste of fuel to generate an escape velocity for materials.

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The broken rings from the New Mombasa Orbital Elevator near Tsavo Highway.

New Mombasa skyline, with the famous space elevator and Covenant ship

In 2552, when the city was attacked by the Covenant during The First Battle of Earth, the Assault Carrier commanded by the High Prophet of Regret landed troops around the elevator. Eventually Regret had to retreat because the UNSC were pushing the Covenant back. He ordered his Assault Carrier to jump through slipspace to a random location. As a result the shockwave from the jump destroyed the orbital elevator and along with the city of New Mombasa. The remains of the elevator scattered all over the area by Tsavo Highway and the Portal

Trivia

• It can be seen throughout the Halo 2 levels, Outskirts and Metropolis.
• The third mission of Halo 3, Tsavo Highway, features the remains of the Space Elevator now scattered across the African plains.
• The elevator's remains were seen in Halo 3 promotional posters, on the game case, in the Announcement Trailer set for 2006 and on the game guide. It was originally mistaken for the remains of a destroyed Halo ring, despite the seemingly obvious disparity in sizes.
• It is close in description to a space elevator in Arthur C. Clarke's book Fountains of Heaven.