Professor Joseph N. Pelton
Joseph N. Pelton, BSc, MA, Ph.D. is the Chairman of the Board of the Alliance for Collaboration in the Exploration of Space (ACES Worldwide) and Dean Emeritus and former Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the International Space University, with over 50 years of experience in satellite communications, space safety, and telecommunications education.
He is the Founder of the Arthur C. Clarke Foundation and the founding President of the Society of Satellite Professionals International, now known as the Space and Satellite Professionals International (SSPI). He currently serves on the Executive Board of the International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety and is the Director Emeritus of the Space and Advanced Communications Research Institute (SACRI) at George Washington University, where he also served as Director of the Accelerated Master’s Program in Telecommunications and Computers from 1998 to 2004.
As Chairman of ACES Worldwide since 2021, Joseph leads an international consortium that partners with public and private space associations to develop innovative solutions to pressing space challenges and opportunities, with a focus on space education and training, capacity-building, space safety and sustainability, and orbital debris mitigation.
He cofounded ACES Worldwide with Jim Crisafulli while working together on issues related to Hawaiian aerospace development. He also serves as Director of Academics and Research for the International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety (IAASS), chairman of its Academic Committee, and member of its Executive Board.
He serves as Senior Editor of the Journal of Space Safety Engineering. A prolific author and futurist, Joseph has published over 70 books and more than 400 articles, encyclopedia entries, op-ed pieces, and other research publications throughout his career. His book series, including E-Sphere, Future View, Future Talk, and Global Talk, won the Eugene M. Emme Literature Award of the International Astronautical Federation and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. Read Space 2.0: Revolutionary Advances in the Space Industry and The New Gold Rush: The Riches of Space Beckon.
Throughout his executive career, Joseph joined the Communications Satellite Corporation (COMSAT) as a satellite communications analyst in 1969. After serving as Manager of Interim Communications Satellite Committee (ICSC) Affairs for COMSAT, he moved to Intelsat in 1974 to work as Executive Assistant to the Director General, ultimately being promoted to Director of Strategic Policy and Director of Project SHARE (Satellites for Health and Rural Education). This program, carried out in cooperation with the International Institute of Communications (IIC), provided free satellite access to over 40 educational and health-related projects, benefiting more than 100 countries worldwide, including the pioneering Chinese National TV University in rural China.
In 1986, he left Intelsat to become Professor and Director of the Interdisciplinary Telecommunications Program (ITP) and Director of the Center for Advanced Research in Telecommunications and Technology (CARTT) at the University of Colorado-Boulder. This graduate student program, through its on-campus programs, tele-education programs, and special programs with AT&T, U.S. West, Lucent Technologies, and the International Communications Association, supports graduate degree programs and training for over 300 students from around the world and 22 states in the United States.
From 1998 to 2010, Joseph joined George Washington University (GWU) as a research professor in the School of Engineering and Applied Science, where he served as Director of the Accelerated Master’s Program in Telecommunications and Computers at the GWU Virginia Science & Technology Campus and established the Space and Advanced Communications Research Institute (SACRI). Read Space Debris and Other Threats from Outer Space.
Joseph earned his Bachelor’s degree in Physics from the University of Tulsa in 1965, his Master’s degree in International Relations from New York University, and his Ph.D. in Political Science and International Affairs from Georgetown University in 1972. His interdisciplinary educational background provided the foundation for his work bridging technology, policy, and international cooperation in space.
At the University of Tulsa, he was president of the Student Senate and brought in many famous entertainers, including Bob Hope. He met his wife, Eloise, at TU and was active in the Boomerang Club. In April 2025, he was honored at the University of Tulsa, where he returned to campus to discuss revolutionary advances in the space industry, speaking to students, faculty, and the public at TU’s College of Engineering & Computer Science. He was named a TU Distinguished Alumnus in 1986 and was inducted into the college’s Hall of Fame in 1999.
During his sabbatical and leave of absence period from the University of Colorado, Joseph served as Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dean of the International Space University (ISU) in Strasbourg, France, and in Vienna, Austria, from 1996 to 1997, having previously served as Chairman of the Board from 1992 to 1995. He has continued to teach for the International Space University in various programs, including their Southern Hemisphere Program in Adelaide, Australia, and their Space Studies Programs at over a dozen locations worldwide over the last three decades.
In 1983, when President Reagan appointed former AT&T President Bill Ellinghaus to lead the U.S. Committee for World Communications Year, Ellinghaus selected Joseph as the Managing Director of this committee. Under his leadership, the committee launched the Arthur C. Clarke Foundation and supported other related activities for the celebration.
He served as the founding president of the Global Legal Information Network (GLIN) Foundation, a cooperative project between NASA and the U.S. Library of Congress established to support a global electronic network hosting all the laws of countries worldwide. He has been an Executive Board member of the International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety (IAASS) since its founding conference in Nice, France, in 2004, where he delivered a keynote address.
Among his numerous awards and recognitions, Joseph was elected to full membership in the International Academy of Astronautics in 1998 and was awarded the Sir Arthur Clarke Award for lifetime achievement in the field of satellite communications in 2000. He was elected to the Hall of Fame of the Society of Satellite Professionals International in 2001, an honor bestowed upon only about 50 individuals in the field. In 2004, he was elected an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
In 2017, he received the Leonardo da Vinci Lifetime Achievement Award from the IAASS in Toulouse, France, and the Guardian Award from our Lifeboat Foundation, an accolade previously bestowed upon luminaries such as Elon Musk, Warren Buffett, and Prince Charles. This Guardian Award was received in recognition of Joseph’s work on Cosmic Hazards and Planetary Defense
In 2013, he won the Arthur Award-International as presented by the British Interplanetary Society at the UK Space Conference in Glasgow, Scotland. He was also the winner of the H. Rex Lee award for his leadership in organizing and managing the worldwide tele-health and tele-education Project SHARE for INTELSAT and received the Outstanding Educator Award from the International Communication Association. Read Space Exploration and Astronaut Safety and Global Space Governance: An International Study.
Joseph has been deeply involved in his local community, having served as President of the Arlington County Civic Federation from 1975 to 1976 during the nation’s bicentennial celebration, for which he received the Evening Star Cup Award in 1977. Most recently, he served as Chair of the Civic Federation’s 100th anniversary in 2016. After returning to Arlington County from working in Colorado and Europe, he served as a member and then Chair of the Arlington Cable Television Commission.
In 2010, he drafted new articles to create the Arlington County Information Technology Advisory Commission, where he served as chair from 2010 to 2016. He has been a keynote speaker at the United Nations General Assembly Science Summit, addressed audiences in over 40 countries, and appeared on major media outlets, including PBS NewsHour, NPR’s All Things Considered, ABC, CBS, BBC, CBC, and FR-3.
Joseph resides in Arlington, Virginia, where he continues his work as a thought leader in space policy, safety, and governance. His vision for international collaboration in space exploration continues to influence global space policy discussions.
Read The Oracle of Colombo: How Arthur C. Clarke Revealed the Future.
Visit his Homepage,LinkedIn profile, and ResearchGate profile. Follow him on Facebook, X, and Loop.