a chemical space tug would be used to transport basic construction equip- * ment, supplies, and 2,000 workmen to the point in space called L5. A smaller work force of about 200 people would establish a lunar outpost to provide 98% of the materials needed for construction. Building of the first colony would then take 6 years. The mass of this colony would be 0 about 500,000 tons (450 x 10 kg) approximately equal to that of a supertanker . Upon completion, 10,000 workers would be housed in the colony. Four thousand of these would build additional colonies and 6,000 would produce satellite solar power stations of the type described in Section III, subsection 2. The first SPS would be operational about 2 years after completion of the first colony. The provision of power to earth would, by building up the number of stations rather rapidly, eventually pay for the entire enterprise. The total number of colonies and power stations would only be limited by future political and economic considerations since the technology exists and ample materials may be found on the moon and, later, from the asteroid belt. There are a large number of descriptions of the living conditions in the colonies but they all basically emphasize that they will be modeled on the most desirable living conditions on earth. It is important to note that the colonies are to become essentially self-sustaining, closed ecological systems. There will, of course, be frequent travel and communication between colonies and between the colonies and earth. 2. Transportation As pointed out repeatedly in the earlier portions of this report, one of the primary hurdles that must be overcome to achieve economical power from satellites is the current high cost of transportation from earth to orbit and from low earth orbit to synchronous orbit. O'Neill proposes to overcome this hurdle by using materials already in space. * L5 is a point in the moon's orbit equidistant from the earth and the moon at which objects will remain in a relatively stable orbit, stationary with respect to the moon.
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