designs do not fare quite as well as the bicycle wheels. However, this may change in the future as researchers arrive at more detailed bicycle wheel designs, since the mass of thrusters and fuel was not included. While both bicycle wheels and inflatable spheres may need thrusters to adjust for orbital perturbations, the bicycle wheels must be slewed throughout the course of the day to track the sun and/or Earth. Inflatable spheres simultaneously present an entire hemisphere toward both the sun and the Earth, eliminating the need for slewing. Designs using lunar materials are substantially heavier than those using terrestrial materials, but still represent an improvement over conventional SPS’s. The decision of whether to use terrestrial or lunar materials will depend on global energy requirements and launch costs.
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