BIS Online Lecture: Space Elevator Talk by Dr Peter Swan FBIS Wednesday 16 September 2026

Join the British Interplanetary Society online for a talk by Dr Peter A. Swan FBIS, FAIAA, AIAA, Chief Architect and Board Member of the International Space Elevator Consortium.

In his lecture, Modern-Day Space Elevators are the Logistics Giants for the 21st Century, Dr Swan will explore the potential of space elevators as permanent infrastructure for access to space.

The talk will examine proposed architectures, the technical and operational challenges still to be overcome, and approaches towards achieving first operations.

While rockets will remain vital for exploration, Dr Swan argues that sustained settlement and industrial activity beyond Earth will demand a fundamentally different scale of logistics. Mature space-elevator systems could shift the conversation from payloads measured in kilograms to annual delivery measured in tens of thousands of tonnes—supporting operations in geostationary orbit, on the Moon, and on Mars.

The presentation will consider the prospective advantages of modern space elevators, including:

• High-volume delivery of cargo to GEO and beyond
• Reusable climbers and potentially far higher delivered-mass fractions than rocket launch
• Routine, efficient logistics—including regular releases towards Mars
• Reduced atmospheric emissions and orbital-debris impacts
• Spaceport-based storage, assembly and deployment of large-scale spacecraft and infrastructure

Dr Swan has worked in space-systems design for 50 years across the US Air Force, Motorola and Teaching Science and Technology, Inc. He holds a PhD in space-systems design from UCLA, is co-chair of the International Academy of Astronautics’ Space Elevator Committee, and is active in the National Space Society and International Space Development Conference. A long-standing BIS contributor, he has presented to the Society since 1982.