The Space Elevator Reference

Russia to launch first space elevator

According to this story in Pravda the Russians in co-operation with The European Space Agency (ESA) will launch the first space elevator. Whoever wrote the article obviously did so in a hurry as there are problems with the story.

To start off the space elevator referenced really isn't a space elevator as is popularly defined. The story really is about a 30 km tether system used to de-orbit cargo from the International Space Station. And while there might be some merit in the idea of using a tether to lower cargo to the atmosphere I can't see this project moving forward in the current fiscally challenged space station. One last point, the Dutch did not invent the Space Elevator concept. The concept has been credited to a Konstantin Tsiolkovsky.

The Space Elevator 3rd Annual International Conference

Less than a year after the successful 2nd Space Elevator conference comes the third conference. The venue this year has shifted from New Mexico to Washington, DC (June28-30), probably ensuring a larger audience than the 70 who participated last year. The presentations from the last conference are available online.