This approach will be judged successful when technical uncertainties and risks in the SPS program are greatly reduced, the industrial infrastructure is established, and substantial information is available on the technical feasibility, economic viability, and social and environmental acceptability of the SPS designs to the decision-makers. Policy Considerations It is only when long-range goals for a project, such as the SPS, are agreed upon that policies can be evolved to justify space missions and the development of systems and supporting technologies to meet both near- and long-term applications of solar space power. National and international institutions will have to evolve along with the space infrastructures so as not to retard SPS development. SPS development will occur within the context of the evolving space industrial infrastructure that will be essential for space commerce and in consonance with the political and economic interests and actions of governments and in accordance with international laws. Many policy issues raised by space activities, such as the supply of power in space or for use on Earth, will involve and affect many countries. These issues may not be resolved by only a few countries and may have to be handled in a multilateral framework to facilitate international cooperation for the peaceful uses of outer space. International cooperation leading to the development of the SPS has already been demonstrated in multilateral initiatives, such as satellite search and rescue systems, the proposal for an international satellite monitoring agency, and participation in a coordinated study of the biological, chemical and geological systems of the Earth to establish the impact of human activity on global habitability and global change. Conclusions To reap the widest possible benefits implied by the evolution of the space infrastructure, planning by the public and private sectors should ensure that the development of solar space power can proceed unhindered. Future economic benefits of solar space power can be projected in only broad outline. Assumptions about the development of
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