amortization and interest on the equipment as installed). Therefore, there would be no need to strain for the reduction of powerplant mass. Turbogenerators of the present time would be adequate, and it should be possible to achieve for them high reliability, by designing more conservatively without serious weight restrictions. An SSPS built at an orbital facility would be considerably simpler than one launched from the earth, because the SSPS built in orbit from lunar materials could be designed without launch vehicle constraints. Turbogenerators could be fewer and of the most efficient size rather than kept within vehicle limits. Solar reflectors and waste-heat radiators could be built in large sizes and would never have to withstand launch accelerations. That is a significant advantage because an SSPS would be mechanically fragile: the specific mass figures of Table 1 imply an overall average thickness for the SSPS, including solar energy converters, radiators, conductors, mirrors, supports, and transmitting equipment, of only 0.08 to 0.6 mm of aluminum. The linear dimension of the SSPS would be several kilometers, about ten times larger than those of the SMF. On completions, the SSPS would be tested in space close to the construction site. It would then be moved to geosynchronous orbit through the small velocity interval (2.1 km/sec) which separates that orbit from L5. Cost-Benefit Summaries: By now there have been a number of estimates made for the construction of a beachhead in space. They range from an 2 13 initially spartan facility to a relatively luxurious one ,
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