D4.3 “Jerome Pearson Memorial Lecture” - Management of the Space Elevator Construction Project and Its Development Process

Yoji ISHIKAWA

Lead Expert, Obayashi Corporation

Japan

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The space elevator represents a prototypical long-term megaproject, requiring several decades and substantial financial investment from initial conceptual planning through eventual realization. The composition of stakeholders is likely to evolve across the development timeline, from early-stage research activities to later-stage implementation. Assuming a project structure in which early-phase funding is provided primarily by public institutions and the final phase transitions toward private-sector–led societal deployment, this paper delineates key management principles deemed critical to the project’s ultimate success, drawing upon insights derived from analogous large-scale technological initiatives. First, in the initial phase, it is imperative either to converge upon an optimal set of foundational technologies—such as selecting between carbon nanotubes and graphene as candidate tether materials, or determining whether a self-propelled or alternative mechanism is most suitable for tether locomotion—or to deliberately maintain technological competition in order to stimulate innovation and accelerate technological maturation. Second, in the subsequent phase, attention must be directed toward identifying and cultivating a viable “platform entity” capable of assuming central responsibility for the long-term operation and commercialization of the space elevator system. This effort is particularly significant given the expected fluidity of stakeholder composition over the project’s duration. Third, the project should seek to enhance complementarities between foundational technologies—such as tether material development, climber propulsion systems, and energy-supply architectures—and applied technologies, including orbital demonstration missions. Fostering such interdependencies is expected to generate synergistic effects that expedite the overall development trajectory. Fourth, the project must remain responsive to emergent challenges, including newly manifesting risks in the space environment as well as changes in legal and regulatory frameworks. Ensuring flexibility and accuracy in addressing such uncertainties is essential for sustaining project viability over extended timescales. Fifth, mechanisms that effectively intermediate between end users of the space elevator and the designated platform entity should be established in order to facilitate smooth societal integration and commercialization of the system. Collectively, these perspectives enable the formulation of milestones that extend beyond purely technical or quantitative criteria and contribute to the development of a qualitative, strategically oriented roadmap for long-term project governance.