Space pulleys

 the problem with the space elevator is that it is mind-bogglingly large, and needs power. cheapskate that i am, expending power is against my religion, rather, i am religiously against it.

why not, hear me out, why not, instead of making material go up a space elevator into the atmosphere where escape velocity is zero ? here's how i would do it - 

a spaceship would cruise until it was just outside the pull of the Earth's gravity. from there it would shoot a heavy object with a steel (or nano-fiber) cable tied to it. this object would fall into the earth's gravity field and therefore start getting heavier and hence continue to fall.

the spaceship would use its thrusters to keep it falling slow enough to reach the earth without burning up. then, it would thread the other end of the steel cable (or nano-fiber) through a wheel, and tie a heavy weight at this end. this heavy weight should ideally be the cargo they want to ship - like space-strength containers full of unobtanium mined from a nearby meteorite cluster for eg ...

(or we can use 2 spaceships to send down one heavy container each, and then connect their end over a pulley wheel)

now, earthlings can fill up a space-strength container with supplies, food and clothes and medicines and krishna books, intended for the pilots, belters, miners ;  fuel for the spaceship, parts for repairs etc 

they send it up, by asking the spaceship to send down the cargo.. the spaceship controls the pulley wheels, and boom, low-cost space trade channel open !!!

!! shivers running down my spine !!

the spaceship has to be super large, with mechanical parts, and in the future, will act as space gateways

the future's real bright now