Aspects such as the above (and the list is by no means exhaustive) point to the increased complexity in the approach needed for the provision of space power systems compared with, say, terrestrial types of electricity generating stations which can be provided on an individual, traditional, national basis by sovereign states. This complexity will be reflected by the types and magnitudes of legal, political and institutional issues which will emerge. It is widely held that the serious promoter of an SPS project will find the juridical ground for his actions inadequately prepared, largely for two reasons: The application of SPS technology will have novel, substantial and world-wide implications and the corresponding industrial activity in space will be on a scale which is without precedent. Of course, if the acquisition of space solar power should become a matter of vital importance to the technologically advanced user he may choose not to wait until such issues have been resolved. Important political, legal, regulator and institutional issues arise in five areas: (i) Access to resources (e.g. materials, real estate for rectennas, orbits); (ii) Environmental impacts (e.g. launch pollution, electromagnetic power waves, change of land use, rocket noise); (iii) Industrial operations in outer space (e.g. procedures for working in space, space traffic regulation, safety in space); (iv) liability (e.g. catastrophic launch failures, damge through space debris); (v) Organization (involvement of many existing international and national official bodies and creation of specific institutions not only for SPS project management and operation but but also for purposes such as policing of space). None of the non-technological issues bearing on the ultimate practicability of the large scale use of SPS seem to be insurmountable but much time is needed for defining such issues and for finding agreed solutions. Equally of course, much time is needed in finding cost-effective engineering solutions in order to make SPS a competitive supplier of base load electricity.
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