This paper introduces history of space tethers, including tether concepts and tether missions, and attempts to provide a source of references for historical understanding of space tethers. Several concepts of space tethers since the original concept has been conceived are listed in the literature, as well as a summary of interesting applications, and a research of space tethers is given. With the aim of implementing scientific experiments in aerospace, several space tether missions which have been delivered for aerospace application are introduced in the literature. 1. Introduction With original concepts of “space elevator” or “beanstalk,” space tethers were developed to transport payloads up and down without any propellant. A space tether is a kind of long cable ranging from a few hundred meters to many kilometers, which uses series of thin strands of high-strength fibre to couple spacecraft to each other or to other masses, and it also provides a mechanical connection which enables the transfer of energy and momentum from one object to the other. Since the conception of space tether came up in the 19th century, it has not yet been fully utilised. Space tethers can be used in many applications, including the study of plasma physics and electrical generation in the upper atmosphere, the orbiting or deorbiting of space vehicles and payload, for interplanetary propulsion, and potentially for specialised missions, such as asteroid rendezvous, or in extreme form as the well-publicized space elevator. With the development of space technology, space tethers should be widely used in space exploration [1]. Space tethers have a long history since the original idea was proposed in 1895, and research work of space tethers quickly expanded, especially the research on dynamics and control of space tethers, which are the fundamentally aspects. Furthermore, a series of tether missions have been delivered for aerospace applications in the last century. The aims of these missions are mostly for scientific experiments of space tethers’ research [1–5]. 2. History of the Tether Concept The original idea of an orbital tower was first conceived by Konstantin Tsiolkovsky in 1895 [6, 7]. Inspired by the Eiffel Tower, Tsiolkovsky imagined a giant tower reaching space with a “celestial castle” at the top, and the free-floating spindle-shaped tower—“Tsiolkovsky” tower, which is reaching from the surface of Earth to GSO. His proposal for a “Shuttle-borne Skyhook” for low orbital altitude research marked the advent of tethered satellite systems (TSS). It would be supported in
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