1976 JSC Evaluation Of SPS Vol2

Concluding Remarks The following table was derived from the "nominal" transportation traffic model and shows the average transportation costs for construction of one SPS unit in terms of dollars per KW of electrical energy at the ground distribution network for each option. Conclusions and comments related to this table and previous discussions include: a. Personnel transportation costs amount to less than 5% of the total and are not expected to become a determining factor between LEO and GEO construction or in basic system feasibility. b. Costs of operating the heavy lift launch vehicle dominate the transportation costs. These are determined by three factors, which in turn require refinement: (1) Costs per flight of the optimally-sized launch vehicle ($/kg to LEO). (2) Specific mass of the power satellite (kg/KWe) c. The use of O^/H? chemical OTV's required for GEO assembly rather than payload powered high specific impulse OTV's which may be utilized for LEO assembly imposes 40 to 50% in additional launch costs for transporting the additional OTV propellant. They include the possible use of non-payload powered high specific impulse systems even though early analysis of this option appears to incur higher transportation costs because of the weight, cost, and return requirement of the dedicated power supply.

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