25 Without robust ISAM capabilities, the Assemble, Maintain, and Dispose ConOps phases will be significantly slower and more expensive, especially when assembling a solar panel collection area measuring 19km2, like that of RD2. 5.1.2 Large-scale Autonomous Distributed Systems Autonomy is making significant advances today, both terrestrially and in space. On-orbit capability, however, is closer to automation (executing preprogrammed actions) than autonomy (independent decision-making onboard a system), as seen in the collision avoidance capability of largeconstellation satellites in orbit today. For SBSP, collaboration between multiple autonomous systems working across kilometers of space may be required to achieve cost targets. While this could theoretically be preprogrammed into automated commands instead of independent decisionmaking on satellites, either approach is still well beyond anything ever attempted. With today’s technology, remote operators would be required for at least some operations, making assembly labor intensive and more time consuming than is assumed in this study’s baseline assessment. 5.1.3 Power Beaming Power beaming is a technical challenge that was not discussed as part of the sensitivity analyses. Power beaming from space was first demonstrated in June 2023 (Caltech, 2023), though at a scale that is orders of magnitude below what is baselined for the systems studied in this report or proposed elsewhere. Significant advances are needed before commercial-scale SBSP powerbeaming systems would be technically feasible. 5.2 Challenges to Reducing System Costs As discussed in Section 3, Results, the reference design systems are far more expensive than and may have comparable GHG emissions to terrestrial renewable alternatives. The sensitivity analysis section of this report showed that both costs and emissions may be reduced through advances in technology and access to space. However, many of these technologies are still in development as described in this section. Every element of the SBSP ConOps has significant cost challenges. These challenges are associated with the sheer scale of the manufacturing effort as well as the number of launches required. They could be mitigated through manufacturing and launch efficiencies, or both. 5.2.1 Launch costs High space transportation costs are the single most impactful cost barrier. Launch costs affect every in-space element, from SBSP system construction and maintenance to ISAM capabilities like refueling and assembly.
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