Spaceflight June 2023

SpaceFlight Vol 65 No 06 June 2023. Purchase issue here. PDFs of individual articles below.

  • THE RIGHT STUFF: The space elevator’s tether could be built soon using lightweight, ultra-strong materials such as single crystal graphene, hexagonal boron nitride or carbon nanotubes. By Adrian Nixon, John Knapman and Dennis Wright. Diagrams courtesy ISEC/Adrian Nixon.

  • GALACTIC HARBOURS: A galactic harbour is a permanent transportation infrastructure including two space elevators that will enable a space economy. By Michael Fitzgerald. Images courtesy Lux Virtual & Galactic Harbour Inc.

  • COOPERATION & COMPETITION: A dual space access strategy leverages the best of both space elevators and rockets for a greener road to space. By Peter Swan.

  • MODERN DAY SPACE ELEVATORS: The eighth space elevator architecture, as a permanent space transportation system, has remarkable transformative capabilities. By Cathy Swan.

  • INCREDIBLE ENGINEERING: Japan’s construction giant, Obayashi Corporation, has a vision for a space elevator that draws on NASA’s earlier work. By Rob Coppinger.

Four of members of ISEC have contributed to this special issue of Spaceflight which focuses on the latest architecture and some of its components. The paper by Cathy Swan discusses the emergence of the modern-day space elevator, the concept of which has really only been solidified in the last few years. The idea is that the space elevator can become a new and permanent transportation system which overcomes many of the problems associated with rockets whilst providing substantial benefits in the effort to solve the issues faced on Earth at the same time.

This illuminating insight is taken up by Michael Fitzgerald who shows that such a Space Elevator Transportation System (SETS) would operate within a Galactic Harbour – inherently similar to a cargo ship harbour or container port – but in space rather than on land. It enables continuous and integrated supply chain operations moving customer payloads from access cities or entry ports to exit or destination ports and beyond. The Galactic Harbour provides the logistic infrastructure for the movement of massive cargoes from the Earth to and between nodes and on to the Moon, Mars and elsewhere.

Notwithstanding the issues with rockets, Peter Swan's paper argues that there should be a Dual Space Access Strategy that leverages the advantages of rockets with the advantages and benefits of space elevators. Several posited missions would require delivery of massive cargoes to the Moon and Mars surfaces – likely beyond the scope of rockets in the short term due to the thousands of launches necessary – hence the need for an alternative method of accessing space. This alternative method has been dubbed the Green Road to Space by ISEC because of its environmental considerations.

Although most of the components of a space elevator system are pretty much already to go, the primary element – the tether or cable – still requires more development work to deliver a suitable material in sufficient lengths. The paper by Adrian Nixon, John Knapman and Dennis Wright provides an overview of the current properties of candidate space elevator tether materials and their methods of manufacture. Three materials currently have the strength to make them viable candidates: carbon nanotubes, single crystal graphene and hexagonal boron nitride. All three of these lightweight but extremely strong materials, will enhance space systems across the board – from electrical and electronics aspects to structures, protection, fuel tanks,  rocket motors, as well as the space elevator tethers. Although carbon nanotubes were considered an initial choice for the tether, recent research has shown that graphene might now be the solution. With a space elevator transportation system hopefully up and running towards the end of the next decade, then the aspirations set out in these four papers in this special issue are highly apposite.