Chicago Society for Space Studies
Promoting Space Exploration For All of Us
Chicago Society for Space Studies is the largest space advocacy organization in Illinois and one of the oldest in the nation.
Our Mission
Space Education
To serve as a space education resource for the general public.
SPACE Policy
To provide input to elected officials on matters of U.S. space policy and to support policies viewed as having a posItive impact on space development.
speakers bureau
To serve as a regional center of excellence in delivering space-related educational programming to schools, museums, and other civic organizations.
public events
To host and/or sponsor public events and speakers that provide valuable space-related educational programs to the community.
We Have the Power to Impact Our Future, and We’re Doing Something About It
Those of us who have volunteered to organize, lead, conduct public outreach, and develop educational presentations are working to shape our future in space. It is our conviction that a dynamic program of space development is a key component of humanity’s ability to continue to improve our overall quality of life and standard of living. We hope that you too share our passion and that you will join us in our efforts to shape the future.
Happening Now
Could We Understand an Alien Message?
The Sunday May 31, 2026 open public meeting of the Chicago Society for Space Studies (CSSS) will feature CSSS Speakers Bureau member Dale Dellutri and his presentation Could We Understand an Alien Message. Assuming for the moment that we do receive a radio message...
What’s New and Recent Activities
Space Tourism: Beyond the Launch Pad — The Business, Branding, and Strategic Challenges of Opening Space to Humanity
Space tourism is a viable sector of the commercial space market. While it has great economic potential, the space tourism market must overcome a number of hurdles, including ticket prices, safety and regulatory risks, and environmental concerns. Success will require not just innovation but strategic branding that positions the industry as pioneers of humanity’s spacefaring future.
Space Age Forecasts From the TechCast Project
An essay from 2021 making a number of predictions on space development based on forecasts from The TechCast Project. Areas addressed are TechCast’s method of collective intelligence, forecasting the space age, space commercialization, space tourism, Moon colonies, Solar Power Satellites, human missions to Mars, star travel, and first contact.
The Polar-Lunar Continuum: A New Economic Framework for Cislunar Development
This essay introduces the Polar-Lunar Continuum, a framework that reframes cislunar space into three distinct, interconnected economic zones. Discover how shifting from destination-focused exploration to corridor-focused development provides a crucial roadmap for policymakers, investors, and startups to build lasting commercial infrastructure beyond Earth.
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A new space race has begun, and most Americans are not even aware of it. This race is not about political prestige or military power. This new race involves the whole human species in a contest against time… To save the Earth we must look beyond it, to interplanetary space. To prevent the collapse of civilization and the end of the world as we know it, we must understand that our planet does not exist in isolation.