number of aspects of the concept and provides a point of departure for further work. The summary (Volume I) presents a number of preliminary conclusions and a synopsis of the more detailed studies which are presented in Volume II. Certain programmatic guidelines were chosen to initiate the study based on deployment of the first operational SPS as early as 1990. a. Program plans and technology projections will be developed based on deployment of the first operational SPS as early as 1990. b. The capability will be provided as early as 1995 to deploy two to four SPS per year. c. Dedicated transportation systems will be developed and optimized specifically for use in deploying and operating the SPS network. d. Materials used in fabricating and operating an SPS will be obtained only from the earth. e. The SPS will be deployed in appropriate geosynchronous orbits only. f. The lifetime of an SPS will nominally be 30 years although liberal refurbishment/replacement of parts may be assumed. g. The SPS will be designed in a manner to optimize participation of man in its fabrication, assembly, and operation. h. Availability of scarce resources will be a major consideration in projecting technologies to be used in fabricating the SPS network. i. Energy as well as economic payback will be assessed in determining the SPS development strategy. j. Aspects of social and environmental impact will be assessed. k. Assembly fabrication strategies for SPS will be developed such as to minimize overall costs. The first two guidelines were modified slightly as the study progressed in that various scenarios were defined and evaluated. Available resources defined the scope and depth of the study. For example, the study was primarily limited to consideration of the photovoltaic concept for solar energy collection and conversion. Similarly, the more detailed design studies were limited to consideration of silicon solar cells. Given these restrictions, a range of power station sizes and weights were determined based on conservative and optimistic estimates of collection, conversion, transmission and receiving efficiencies.
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