In article , Doug...
wrote:

Remember, our one and only attempt to deploy a long tether in LEO met
with failure and near-disaster. I'm aware that the conditions in lunar
orbit are different than in LEO, but still, it seems to me that until we
demonstrate something as simple as deploying a 20km tether in LEO, we're
talking out of our asses when speaking of 100km tethers pulling up lunar
materials from orbit.

It depends on whether you do it with an elaborate international project
requiring a separate Shuttle launch or two, or as a cheap afterthought
piggybacked on somebody else's launch.
http://www.islandone.org/APC/Tethers/02.html

--
David M. Palmer (formerly @clark.net, @ematic.com)