session 3

Title

The Modern Day Space Elevator as a Permanent Transportation Infrastructure

type

oral

Description

Space elevators position humanity to address Earth’s challenges from a new vantage point. We are on the brink of transforming our relationship with space, offering an eco-friendly, cost-effective, and efficient logistics method to transport large cargoes into space. This gateway will provide unparalleled opportunities in space exploration, resource utilization, and satellite assembly. Starting in the late 2030s, space elevator infrastructures will deliver satellites and other payloads to GEO, the Moon and Mars at the rate of 30,000 tonnes, every year. This surpasses the total launched between 1957 and 2022. Indeed – a seismic shift! By harnessing electricity for lift, each space elevator promises daily deliveries of up to 14 tonnes to geostationary orbit (GEO), dramatically reducing the environmental impact as compared to rocket launches. Space elevator designs have an unmatched 70% pad mass to GEO efficiency, as compared to only 2% for rockets. They have the potential to unlock solutions to Earth's most pressing challenges such as harvesting solar power from space, climate monitoring, and global communication networks. As humanity stands on the cusp of this new era, these ribbons from ocean to space offer the promise of making space accessible to all, fostering global cooperation, positioning humanity to address Earth's challenges, and inspiring a sustainable future for our planet. The Keynote Speech for this technical session will be entitled the "Jerome Pearson Memorial Lecture."

Date

2025-09-30

Time

15:00

Room

Parkside Pre-Function

IPC members

• Co-Chair: Dr. Peter Swan, Space Elevator Development Corporation, United States;

• Co-Chair: Dr. Yoji Ishikawa, Obayashi Corporation, Japan;

• Rapporteur: Mr. Daniel Griffin, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Sweden;