The Sunday August 23, 2026 meeting of Chicago Society for Space Studies features a trio of short presentations addressing space elevators, nuclear fusion propulsion, and the CSSS space station design cost web app. Each of our three presenations will be 20 minutes in length followed by short questions/answer sessions. The meeting will be held in the Rasmussen North Meeting Room at the Schaumburg Township District Library. Details for each presentation follow.
Presentation: Report on the ISEC Study “Powering the Space Elevator”
Speaker: Larry Bartoszek
Description: It took over two years of work and research but the International Space Elevator Consortium recently released their newest study report called “Powering the Space Elevator”. The pdf is free from the ISEC website, www.isec.org/studies , or paperback copies can be purchased from lulu.com . This talk is an overview and brief summary of this study report covering the major possible methods of delivering power to space elevator climbers. Laser power beaming, microwave power beaming, solar powered climbers and climbers powered by an electrically conductive tether will all be discussed. Each method has technology issues that need to be solved before the space elevator can be built. The report allows the reader to see the pros and cons of each method and choose for themselves which would be their preferred method to drive a climber up the tether.
Presentation: Exoplanet Probe Deceleration using Nuclear Fusion Propulsion
Speaker: Gerry Jackson
Description: For transit times less than a century, unmanned missions to the nearest habitable zone planet Proxima b will require too many resources to justify a mere flyby at velocities greater than 4% of the speed of light. Deceleration and orbital insertion will be desired in order to send back pictures and scientific data. This work explores a nuclear fusion-based propulsion system utilizing direct emission of fusion daughters. An electrostatic rocket nozzle for focusing these fusion daughters has been designed and built and experimentally studied. A prototype propulsion system has been built and is currently undergoing commissioning, soon demonstrating the feasibility of this approach.
Presentation: The CSSS Commercial Space Station Design Cost Web App
Speaker: Jim Plaxco
Description: Designing, building, launching, and operating a commercial space station involves a large number of design decisions. These decisions determine a station’s cost, functionality, and ability to be profitable. To gain insight into the design of a space station, CSSS has developed a space station design cost web app that offers insights into the design of a space station and its cost structure. Using this web app, users can explore the cost impacts of their design decisions. The app demonstrates the cost optimization tradeoffs of crew, volume, research payloads, energy consumption, and launch constraints. This presentation explores the topic of commercial space stations and the design of the design cost simulator.
Please join us for this space development trilogy and the conversations that follow. This meeting is free and open to the public.
Space Stations, Nuclear Propulsion, and Space Elevators Meeting Details
| Date: | Sunday August 23, 2026 |
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| Time: | 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM |
| Location: | Rasmussen North Meeting Room (on the 2nd Floor), Schaumburg Township District Library 130 South Roselle Road, Schaumburg, IL Link to Google Maps for Schaumburg Library Location NOTE: The library opens at Noon on Sundays. |
| Description: | The Space Stations, Nuclear Propulsion, and Space Elevators Trilogy presentations start at 1:00pm and will be followed by general discussion. The library opens at 12:00 noon and all are encouraged to arrive before the start of the presentation. This program is free and open to the public. |