james@bigtex.uucp (James Van Artsdalen) (03/29/88)
IN article <4091@bloom-beacon.MIT.EDU>, jfc@athena.mit.edu (John F Carr) wrote: > If we ever get a lot of energy out of them, we will need a cheaper launch > system. We will also use very large thin films to minimize weight and > cost. The SPS's will not be built if they are too expensive. I should think the cost of the SPS itself, and the cost of ongoing maintainence in space, would be even more of a problem than launch costs. > [...] Assuming international cooperation in space (else > the SPS is too vulnerable to attack) the SPS is more reliable than other > systems, and has a greater thermal efficiency on earth. I don't seriously consider a deliberate attack on a power sattellite a likelyhood: that's an act of war. But space debris would be a similar problem. These SPSs would be very large, and would have to have very long operating lifetimes (>25 years?) due to cost. Has there been any serious efforts to consider problems & costs of building impact-tolerant sattellites? Or is it not that bad (yet)? -- James R. Van Artsdalen ...!uunet!utastro!bigtex!james "Live Free or Die" Home: 512-346-2444 Work: 328-0282; 110 Wild Basin Rd. Ste #230, Austin TX 78746