• the lighting of polar regions of the Earth with the help of orbital reflectors on the basis of thin film mirrors; • the growth of biomass production on the Earth by means of the increased daylight; • the increase of energy output of ground solar electric power stations due to additional illumination; • the transmission of energy from regions rich in energy resources to the regions which have none of them with the help of super high frequency radiation and passive orbital radio reflectors; • the supply of some parts of the Earth with the energy from orbital solar space electric power stations (SPS) which transform solar energy into microwave radiation and send it to the Earth; • the supply of energy to Earth-based factories by laser radiation generated in the orbit directly from solar radiation, (i.e. a laser on PVs makes electricity to use for heating and other purposes.) In future, as the number of SPS and their share in power supply increase, it will probably be economically profitable to make them from materials obtained from the Moon. Steps to Space Solar Power The creation of "Power Supply from Space System" should be done step by step. The solution of this problem will be greatly depend on the development of highly effective space vehicles. For example, this problem can be solved by the presence of powerful space energy units on low Earth orbits, these units being able to transfer the energy to the Earth remotely. This will mean new types of launchers which can use other sources of energy. The deployment of space power units infrastructure in orbits and industrial production of some materials in space and their maintenance will demand the presence of specialists at prolonged orbital stations with comfortable life conditions. In this connection the role of space station "Mir" is of great importance. The operation of life - sustaining system in "Mir" will open the possibility of designing economical orbital stations as well as planetary bases for prolonged functioning. In order to solve the problem of creation "Power Supply from Space System" successfully, it is necessary to develop the following: • launchers; • energy-suppliers; • life-sustaining systems; • means of space production. Let us examine in detail the energy supplying systems, the work upon which will pass from the R&D stage to the experimental stage in the near future.
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