There is a wide spectrum of possible hybrid financial structures based on the percentage of government funding, coupled with the percentage of revenue generating activities. In order for SSPP to be as successful as possible, It will be necessary to maximise the program's revenue generating activities. Space to Earth solar power Demonstration 1 (Budgetry requirement $80M) The early SSPP demonstration projects are really technology validation exercises. These proof-of- concept demonstrations will show the feasibility of space beamed power and it's potential applications. The budgets for these projects will be very low, $80M targets, and will be funded from existing space agency budgets. These programs have significant science content and the use of space agency budgets can be justified on these grounds. Demonstration 2 (Budgetry requirement $800M) The second demonstration space to Earth solar power systems will build on the phase A demonstration systems by providing the consumer with a demonstration service as well as demonstrating the feasibility of larger systems. These systems should expand the market size for space solar power and provide a limited service of the market, by demonstrating the business mechanism of supply and demand. Financial sources for each project will depend on the market addressed For all areas the financial sources identified for phase A are still valid. However, the larger budget requirements point to international cooporation as a means of distributing cost. Other novel ways of obtaining limited sources of funds could be to tap institutions such as the European Environmental Agency (EEA) or the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) who would be interested in promoting clean power sources. These programs should be actively ‘sold' to the public. This promotion could lead to limited sponsorship by companies intesested in promoting a ‘green' image. First Business applications (Budgetry requirement $2.3BN) First commercial applications of space to Earth solar power will address and expand the markets generated by phase B of the program. There will be limited limited cash flow in this phase, but institutional support will still be required to implement space infrastructure unless the cost of launching space hardware has reduced dramatically. First space to Earth applications will provide power on the scale of village level supply (1-10 MW). Sources of capitalfunds could come from a rights issue of shares in a young SSPP company. Interested parties could include existing space and aerospace companies, governments, public energy companies, and even existing private energy suppliers. Support could come from an energy futures market if established. Income for power supply would be in two forms. The first would be the paying user, who pays for energy as they consume it. Other larger users of energy could provide capital support for the company while enjoying discounted, or free, use of space solar power. In this way, the ISPO company could utilize institutional budgets on an international basis. A potential source of funds for space to Earth demonstrations will be world aid funds to developing countries. This can be justified if the countries supplying the aid build the spacecraft and supply power free of charge to developing countries. This option is attractive politically as it advances national technology programs and also furthers foreign and national policies. Other interested parties could be the UN and the IMF if the global environmental benefits of such space solar power systems can be ‘sold' effectively. Large scale applications (Budgetry requirements $15BN) Large scale applications of space solar power will involve a satellite providing 500MW of power direct to an electricity grid for a period of fifteen years. This will provide a constant and predictable source of cash flow.
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