space activities have led to projections of substantial markets and potential revenues; however, even if annual revenues fail to increase as rapidly as projected, the market potential is so large that space industries could be among the fastest growing industrial activities in the next century. It is time to take a positive view of the achievable economic returns from space endeavours and to recognize the constructive and catalytic role that solar space power can play in sustaining the evolution of the space infrastructure. Strategic planning by the public and private sectors should begin now to ensure that space will play an increasingly important role in humanity's continuing evolution. As J. D. Bernal observed in his essay, The World, the Flesh, and the Devil [5], ‘We are on the point of being able to see the effects of our actions and their probable consequences in the future; we hold the future still timidly but perceive it for the first time as a function of our own action.' REFERENCES [1] Glaser, P.E. (1982) The Solar Power Satellite - Progress so Far, Interdisciplinary Science Reviews 7, pp. 14-29. [2] NASA, (1977) Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Solar Power Satellite Concept Evaluation, Activities Report, JSC-12973, Houston, TX 77058. [3] US Department of Energy, (1980) Program Assessment Report Statement of Findings, DOE/ER-0085, NTIS, Springfield, VA 22161, November. [4] Office of Technology Assessment, (1981) Solar Power Satellites, OTA-E-144, US Congress, Washington, DC 10510, August. [5] Bernal, J.D. (1969) The World, the Flesh and the Devil, Indiana University Press, Bloomington, Indiana.
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