55th International Astronautical Congress adds Space Elevators to the Program, a First

For the first time, this years annual International Astronautical Congress had sessions on Space Elevator technology.

The final program from the 55th International Astronautical Congress held in Vancouver, Canada between October 4-8, included two sessions on Space Elevator’s. The first, Space Elevator Ribbons and Tethers in Space (IAC-04-IAA.3.8.2) was held Tuesday, October 5. The second, Space Elevators: Systems Architecture and Technology Development (IAC-04-IAA.3.8.3) was help Thursday, October 7.

I attended parts of both sessions and will provide a report on my thoughts at a later date. However I can report the sessions were well attended, with about 75 people for the second session, which was about room capacity.

I have begun to contact all the authors for permission to post their papers on this site as I try to develop a comprehensive collection of published material on Space Elevators. I am to happy to report that the authors that have responded so far have all agreed. This includes Brad Edwards, Jerome Pearson and Kilian Engel. Their papers can be found in the Space Elevator Reference documents section.