initial space to ground tests ... the program plan will include, but will not be limited to, a presentation of two distinct design examples to demonstrate to the client what systems are possible and useful during this phase of activity ... Design Example #1 should be a space to space power demonstration/application (which will convince decision makers to fund the next level) which can be completed within 5 years from now with a total budget not to exceed $80 Million (101® yen)... Design Example #2 should be a space to ground demonstration or application which can be completed within 10 years from now with the total budget not to exceed $800M (10^ yen)... The client has made it clear that it is biased in favor of early and low-cost demonstrations.” Also, in the longer term, we were asked to consider in general the five following long-term questions concerning space to ground power systems: “QI. Under what conditions will such systems be economically viable? Q2. What must be learned before such systems can be created? Q3. What investigations and experiments should be undertaken to accomplish (Q2) Q4. What are the priorities for (Q3) above? Q5. Are there any “high-leverage” issues that would greatly impact (QI)?” In order to best answer this wide array of tasks, we divided ourselves, mainly but not entirely by discipline, into 10 task groups: • Assumptions, Intentions, and External Relations • Scheduling • Legal and International Relations • Business Planning • Environment and Safety • Space Transportation • Manufacturing, Construction, and Operations • Spacecraft • Power Collection, Conversion and Distribution • Technical Trade Identification In addition, an Animation Group was created to produce a video presentation (which can be obtained from ISU Headquarters). Formation of a Report Group and a weekly-rotating Coordinating Interface Group, both consisting of members of each of the ten main task groups, was needed to put together the report and coordinate the groups' work, respectively. Also, so-called “tiger teams,” represented by many but not necessarily all of the groups, were created in order to address the specific design examples. What is new in our contribution? We do not presume to outdo the advanced scientific and engineering work undertaken by industry and agency laboratories throughout the world. What we have attempted to offer is a structured outlook at the circumstances under which space solar power for the Earth and elsewhere would be viable, as well as a program to advance towards this goal, beginning with early, practical, well-defined demonstrations. Our strength comes from the very characteristics that make ISU unique: our multidisciplinary and multinational composition. The community undertaking the effort of research and development in space solar power is largely made up of scientists and engineers, so a fresh look at problems from different viewpoints, including policy and business matters, may give a new perspective on what are the critical issues governing implementation of their scientific and engineering efforts. Similarly, the approach resulting from our wide mixture of nationalities is bound to be sensitive to the needs of international cooperation, as will surely be required by the scope and size of future worldwide space solar power. New, more active roles for developing countries, and changing relations between established economic powers thus come to shape the program herein proposed, and reflect the trends of the coming global era in which solar power from space could become a reality.
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