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As outlandish as it seems, a space elevator would make getting to space accessible, affordable and potentially very lucrative. But why it hasn’t happened yet basically boils down to materials—even the best of today’s super-strong and super-lightweight materials just still aren’t good enough to support a space elevator.

Not for lack of trying, however. Penn State researchers announced in 2014 that they had created diamond nanothreads in the lab, which modeled in computer simulations by Australian researchers suggest they could be stronger and more flexible than first believed. Research into carbon nanotube (CNT) technology continues, and new advances in graphene research seem to be announced every month.

In Sky Line [spaceelevator.net], filmmakers Jonny Leahan and Miguel Drake-McLaughlin profile a group of people who have worked closely on the space elevator concept. The story follows the most thorough effort to date to get a space elevator built, including funding by NASA for research, design and even XPRIZE-style challenges held through 2011. Their motivation to create the film stems from ongoing discussions between each other and friends about the current state of American space technology.