8. PRINCIPAL CONCLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS FOR A POWERSAT DEMONSTRATOR PROGRAMME 8.1 Conclusions The prospects of space-based beam power as a convenient and cost- effective and means to supply energy to spacecraft in Earth orbit and, in the longer-term, to terrestrial power grids, would be improved considerably with the construction and flight test of an initial demonstrator in space. Until then, Powersats and SPSs will simply remain unproven ideas, whose practical application is relegated to a far distant future that bears little relationship to the World’s current relatively small efforts. However, the simple fact that Powersats are unproven, coupled with an apparent lack of actual users currently, makes the case for building a demonstrator difficult to rationalise. An expensive Powersat demonstrator programme might not be viewed as being as high a priority as Earth observation satellites, advanced communications, and initial manned space flight activities. Therefore, the rationale adopted by this study is to determine whether an initial and technically worthwhile experiment can be built relatively inexpensively and in a short period of time. Whereas a “100” MAU+, 10 yearlong demonstrator would be all but impossible to fund in the current climate, a 10 MAU, 5 year or less demonstrator might be less difficult Further, if the inexpensive experiment can be used as a test-bed for space technology currently awaiting access to space, then its justifications will be reinforced. The initial inexpens ive/near-term demonstrator can only provide some of the answers for a future operational Powersat system, of course. Therefore, the initial demonstrator must not be viewed as an end in itself, but rather an inexpensive entry into a long-term, ambitious future programme involving
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