Gravity hook on Makeb
Gravity hooks represented a type of orbital station. These stations were connected to the surface of a planet by extremely lengthy turbolift shafts and also repulsorlifts. Their application remained largely confined to industrial transport operations because of their sluggish speeds, limited carrying capacity, and the substantial energy expenditure they demanded. In essence, gravity hooks incorporated loading rings anchored to the planetary surface, along with docking rings positioned at the upper reaches of the turbolifts.
The use of gravity hooks was seen on the Makeb planet. The planet's dangerous atmospheric conditions caused electromagnetic disturbances that made flying risky. Standard methods of cargo transport were not possible because atmospheric anomalies destroyed ships bigger than personal shuttles. To move valuable minerals from Makeb's mesas, mining companies built gravity hooks to get around this problem. This was a good way to move cargo off the planet. Gravity Hook Four and Gravity Hook Seven were two of the gravity hooks on Makeb.
By the year 3638 BBY, many gravity hooks on Makeb were no longer used. This happened as starships were improved to make atmospheric flight safer.
The purpose and idea of gravity hooks were like those of skyhooks.
Gravity hooks have a strong similarity to the idea of space elevators in both science fiction and real life. However, the space elevators that are being thought about in real life would use tethers instead of the fixed turbolifts that gravity hooks use.