V. ECONOMIC ANALYSIS The economic analyses of the satellite power system (SPS) and power relay satellite (PRS) provided in the available literature present significant problems in the summarization and reconciliation of their findings and projections. Some of these problems are inherent in the nature of the concepts themselves, notably the long and uncertain time frame involved, the major technological uncertainties, the complex interdependencies among cost elements, and the resulting imprecision or "softness" of the cost estimates. There are, however, two other sources of problems and inconsistencies which may be more easily dealt with in the future. The absence of consistency in analytic methods and assumptions is, to some degree, inevitable given the variety of contractors and contracting agencies addressing the problem. There is, however, no reason that future studies or follow-up efforts cannot be based on a common set of ground rules. Among these ground rules should be common terms for expressing per unit costs, common discount rates, a uniform discounting methodology, and some explicit treatment of DDT&E costs. A second major difficulty lies in the nature of much of the documentation. With the notable exception of the ECON study, none of the economic analyses are simultaneously comprehensive and explicitly systematic. Several references (A9, A15, A16, and A17) which are to some degree comprehensive in that they deal with total systems costs and at least the major components thereof, are available only in briefing chart form. Critical unit cost assumptions and key methodological assumptions for deriving unit costs are often omitted. In all but two of the "comprehensive" cost references (All and A16) no estimates of DDT&E costs are provided. While some of the less comprehensive studies appear to provide valuable analysis in specific aspects of the problem, it is difficult, in the absence of a common set of ground rules, to integrate their findings into any more comprehensive treatment.
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