An Orbital Elevator is a piece of infrastructure on a planet where ships can dock and transfer people or cargo to and from land into orbit. Elevator's locations are selected to optimize access to land and navigable water and for commercial demand. Some elevators have an important military role, like Palau Lingga. Space elevators are a common construction of the UN and the UNCA, both on Earth and her colonies. There are eleven of them on Earth. It is the safest and cheapest way to travel off-world, hoarding the vast majority of traffic between Earth and its colonies.