If this mass had not been removed, the rocket equation would yield that the mass expelled as reaction mass during return is The mass required for the new space manufacturing facilities, mass driver reaction engines, and their reaction mass is so small in comparison to this mass and the mass of the asteroid that the effect of the mass loss for the new space manufacturing facilities, mass driver reaction engines, and their reaction mass on the mass returned will be neglected. Since the return of the asteroid takes 51 months, 51 - 15 = 36 months remain after the 104 space manufacturing facilities and mass driver reaction engines leave the asteroid. Because of the lack of tolerance of the solar power satellites for acceleration, they are not constructed until the asteroid reaches its final orbit. However, the space manufacturing facility is expanded during the remainder of the return. In the 36 months available, 12 more generations of copies of the space manufacturing facility could be produced, but only enough will be produced to allow exhaustion of the asteroid in 7 months from the beginning of solar power satellite production. Starting at departure of the space manufacturing facilities and mass driver reaction engines, 2 more generations are produced, which yields a rate of solar power satellite construction of and because the mass returned is 10$ t - 1.09 x 107 t = 8.91 x 107 t, the mass of raw materials plus waste from space manufacturing facility operation is 8.91 x 107 t - 7.60 x 106 t = 8.15 x 1071. Some of the waste produced by space manufacturing facilities up to the point of arrival of the asteroid in its final high earth orbit will be used as reaction mass during the return and later during the transport of the solar power satellites to geosynchronous orbit, but if mass of this waste exceeds the mass needed for reaction mass, the space manufacturing facilities can be converted to solar power satellites to produce about the same number of solar power satellites as if the entire asteroid other than the space manufacturing facilities were raw material. This total waste mass, the change of the solar power satellite rate of construction, and the change in total number of solar power satellites which are produced from the asteroid are not considered in the following. As a guess, the total number of solar power satellites is probably within 30% of the number found below, in which it is assumed that the returned mass is all raw material, except for the space manufacturing facility. Since 1/3 of the raw material is converted to solar power satellites, the number of solar power satellites produced is The mass of the 217 space manufacturing facilities is
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