Special Containment Procedures: Due to its geographic isolation, SCP-XXXX requires minimal physical security measures. However, a 20 kilometer perimeter has been established to prevent unauthorized people from making visual contact with SCP-XXXX from the ground. MTF Delta-1 "Tundra Wolves" has been commissioned to maintain this perimeter and, if necessary, censor the results of any scientific, cartographic, or other expeditions which threaten the secrecy of SCP-XXXX.
The vast majority of space-capable national governments and Groups Of Interest are bound by treaty with the Foundation to prevent the public dissemination of information related to SCP-XXXX by their own space agencies and programs, typically through information sharing agreements and anomaly containment assistance. In the event of an information breach by those organizations, or by others not bound by such treaties, MTF Gamma-5 "Red Herrings" will enact disinformation campaigns to frame such leaks as hoaxes.
Space Launch Site-1 (SLS-1) has been constructed within and around SCP-XXXX , for additional on-site security and to effect Project Cocytus operations.
Description: SCP-XXXX is an orbital elevator, consisting of a set of six enormous, ancient carbon nanotube cables which extend into geosynchronous orbit over the southern latitudes of Antarctica, approximately 5 degrees north of the geographic South Pole. These cables are anchored on the surface of the Earth within a hexagonal steel-and-concrete bunker, roughly 50 meters at its maximum width, which extends for several levels belowground. This bunker also contained a variety of defunct industrial equipment of unclear function at the time of discovery, most of which has since been removed by Foundation personnel for analysis and to facilitate Project Cocytus operations.
The cables are attached to a small orbital facility, which acts as their counterweight. Examination of this facility has revealed that its contents are limited to an observation deck and a set of solar panels whose purpose is to supplement the geothermal power generators contained in the lower levels of the ground facility.
Upon discovery, the SCP-XXXX facility had stored several sizeable storage pods, each designed to be anchored to the cables. Two of these pods are larger,1 designed to be mounted upon all six cables before being lifted. There are also nine smaller pods2 which may each be mounted on only two cables, allowing for up to three simultaneous launches. Investigation into the possibility of reverse engineering and constructing more of these pods is an SLS-1 research priority.
SCP-XXXX is anomalous in that, given its design, composition, construction, and location, it should not be able to function properly. In presently understood physics, orbital elevators are only practical at or near the equator of a planet, because the rotation of the planet causes a greater centrifugal force to act upon the structure, keeping it taut. Despite being nearly as inefficient as possible,3 SCP-XXXX functions flawlessly. Determining why this is possible is likewise an SLS-1 research priority.
Addendum XXXX-1: Discovery
SCP-XXXX was discovered in the year 1902, by the Foundation's Polar Anomaly Survey's fourth large-scale Antarctic expedition. The
Addendum XXXX-2: Project Cocytus