An Invitation:

Our very good friends at the Marshall Institute are graciously hosting a “Washington Roundtable” discussion here in Washington D.C. on 8 August to discuss space-based solar power.  It is open to the public.  Jeff Kueter, the president of the institute, asked me to post this inviation to all of you.  If you can make it, please attend … and do follow the RSVP instructuctions to be courteous to our hosts!

The details follow:

WASHINGTON ROUNDTABLE ON SCIENCE AND PUBLIC POLICY

Energy from Space:

Examining the Potential of Space
to Provide Energy for Earth

“How to Build a Space Solar Power System”

My friend Darel Preble sent a comment to a previous posting that included a paper entitled “How to Build a Space Solar Power System.”

I encourage you to read the paper available at the link above. Does it describe a viable way forward?

Space Solar Power: Much More Than Clean Energy

In a recent posting to washingtonpost.com, author Steven Mufson pessimistically asserts in “Climate Change Debate Hinges on Economics:”

“Because of the enormous cost of addressing global warming, the energy legislation considered by Congress so far will make barely a dent in the problem, while farther-reaching climate proposals stand a remote chance of passage.”

I tend to agree with Mufson.

We must not kid ourselves; nothing is a more farther-reaching climate proposal than space-based solar power. If pursued for that reason alone–especially as a big government program–I believe nothing would come of it. Not to despair. There are many more reasons to develop space-based solar power, and another way of going about it.

Meet Coyote in D.C. 18 July 2007

Fellow Space Solar Power Advocates and Skeptics,

I know many of you are planning to attend the Space Frontier Foundation’s NewSpace 2007 Conference in Washington D.C. If you are, this is a great opportunity for us to meet!

On Wednesday, 18 July, I will be in the Doubletree Hotel lounge from around 5:30 to 6:30pm.

Please stop by and say hello and be ready to talk about space-based solar power!  (We’ll turn it into a 5,000 hits party!)

Cheers!

Coyote

Space Solar Power Meets Wikipedia…

The Evil Dr Mankins introduced me to Wikipedia a couple of months ago. Naturally, I felt like an idiot because apparently this has been a huge Internet phenomenon over the last few years that I just missed. What can I say? I’ve been distracted by reality lately.

But I’ve discovered that Wikipedia can be a wealth of information and misinformation…and the innocent might not know the difference.

Please take a look at Wikipedia’s page titled Space Power Satellite.

Is this information or misinformation? Would this serve as a sufficient primer on the subject of space solar power? What edits can we make to improve this page for everyone’s benefit?

Making the Business Case for Space Solar Power

People tend to use the cheapest forms of energy. Companies tend to promote whatever has the highest profit margin. Today’s petroleum infrastructure is massive, expensive, well-integrated across the international community and still highly profitable.

So…how do we make the business case for space-based solar power?

We need to keep in mind the sage advice of Machiavelli:

One should keep in mind that there is nothing more difficult to execute, nor more dubious of success than to introduce a new system of things; for he who introduces it has all those who profit fro the old system as his enemies, and he has only lukewarm allies in all those who might profit the new system.

India, Space Solar Power, Reusable Launch Vehicles, and a Partnership Opportunity?

In a recent posting on The Statesmen website, author Stanley Theodore briefly describes India’s intent to pursue space-based solar power in an article titled ”Solar Energy In Space to Power India.”

The article implies that India has identified the need for cheap, reliable, frequently reusable spacelift as the principle technical challenge that must be overcome.  The article states:

“Mr Saraswath [India's Defence Research and Development Organisation’s (DRDO) chief controller for research and development] said Reusable Launch Vehicles are needed to make [space-based solar power] cost effective.”

Solving the spacelift problem has been identified almost universally in all studies as the principle impediment to all activities in space—this also seems to be the case regarding space-based solar power—now with some independent confirmation from India.

But what is really interesting in Stanley Theodore’s article is the same expression of concern to pursue space-based solar power to  “meet ever growing energy requriements” while recognizing that ”the era of conventional fuels is ending.”