: Also, either way you'd still need lots of stabilizing jets or some other
: similar solution, due to all the dynamic loads involved, such as the
: elevator itself or the ships docking in and out all the time.

I had a whole writeup to describe what I was talking about, and then realized I completely misunderstood the situation and fully agree it's not possible. :P

However, what are actual thought processes on stabilizers in general with a space tether?
I picture it sort of like a circus act trying to balance on a very tall stack of poles - as you are slightly off the mark, your muscles kick in (constantly) to remain in 'balance'. With a tether (ignoring that it's not gravity in work here), if anything happens to the cable's positioning, it somehow needs to be kept in sync with the satellite orbit so it's not pulled gently out of sync to bring the whole thing down. I'd presume the satellite would, while in geosync, have positioning thrusters even as an emergency fallback (like muscles to keep us in balance), to ensure it remains in a position to keep the tether in good condition... I believe I recall reading somewhere about the idea of positioning thrusters at some points along the tether. Can't remember though, twas a while back...