1 Introduction A large international, long-term endeavor such as the development of large-scale space solar power will benefit enormously if it organized around a consistent and well-defined vision. Such a vision serves to unify the many organizations and individuals involved in the project around a common set of goals. 1.1 Vision for the Project “The Earth is not given to you by your grandparents, it is loaned to you by your grandchildren” - Traditional saying. This quote expresses the deep concern that we all should have for our living environment, our biosphere. The biosphere, a vastly complex system comprised of the geosphere, the ecosphere, the atmosphere, and the hydrosphere, is the life support system of our planet. For billions of years it has changed very slowly, shaped by the forces of nature. But recently a new force has evolved within it, a force which has unprecedented power to influence the natural balance of the biosphere. This force is humanity. As the human population grows exponentially, it rapidly depletes the Earth's resources. Our natural resources are being depleted in two senses: the raw materials used in production cycles are running out and will eventually come to an end, and the waste products of our society are placing an increasing burden on our biosphere. Among our resources, those which may be used in the production of energy are extremely important, because our ability to harness energy directly affects our standard of living. But, while our present energy resources may last us for another hundred years, they may not last much longer than that, and they are increasingly damaging to our biosphere. Fossil fuels are presently our most important energy source, but their use is a serious burden on our atmosphere. Nuclear fission is expensive and risky and fusion is not yet practical; furthermore, both will always produce radioactive by-products, which at best will be hazardous for over 100 years. Hydro-electric power has a serious environmental impact, and like wind power, it suffers from limited availability. Ground-based solar energy also has limited utility due to varying cloud cover and diurnal cycles. Clearly, in trying to maintain and increase the global standard of living, humankind is faced with very serious challenges. To make matters worse, the main growth in energy demand will occur in the developing nations which have limited funds and which are therefore likely to adopt inexpensive and pollutive energy systems. Meanwhile, due to the use of fossil fuels, CO2 levels are dangerously on the rise, air pollution is contributing to acid rain, and oil spills are threatening our oceans and coastlines. We must formulate a global solution to our energy problems, and we must do this as soon as possible. We are looking for an energy source that will, in a start-up period at least, be used in conjuction with existing sources, but with none of the disadvantages of present sources. Specifically, to be better than existing sources our new energy source should be: (1) Long-lasting (2) Environmentally safe (the “real cost” of such energy should be minimized) (3) Available at all parts of the globe (4) Affordable, profitable, and technically feasible in developing nations The energy source investigated in this report is space-based solar energy, space solar power has the potential to nicely satisfy the criteria for a better energy source. Originally conceived in the early 1900's by the Russion visionary Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, space solar power received a surge of interest in the 1960's when Peter Glaser published a design for space solar power satellites. Glaser proposed that we could provide energy for the Earth using a formation of solar power satellites. Each solar power satellite would be comprised of a large solar array, power conversion equipment, and a microwave antenna with which to beam power to rectifying antennae (“rectennae”) at various locations. Using such a system, power could be beamed to the surface of the Earth and the moon, and also to other vehicles in the Earth's atmosphere and to space vehicles such as satellites. These applications are very distinct — for example, space to Earth beaming requires very high power delivery, while
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