Before space industrialization becomes a reality, a number of critical research projects must be carried out. The Space Studies Institute, through private funding, sponsors such research, of which this announced Solar Power Satellites study is a part.

The principle objective of this solicitation is to identify a preferred commercially feasible way to build an SPS using lunar materials, thus eliminating as far as possible the need for lifting materials from the Earth.

Most of the government-funded SPS studies in the 1976-1981 time period were constrained to consider only launch from Earth. A secondary objective of this study is to identify new ideas and alternatives that are possible when this constraint is removed. [note, a resulting document from this RFP is included in the SSI SPS Reports Online Collection: "Solar Power Satellites Built Of Lunar Materials" by Space Research Associates]