My Monthly Blog

May 1st 2023

 

Although what I'm about to say is not included in my previous books, it may become the subject of my next book. I'm talking about space based solar/microwave energy transmission.

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Did you know that solar energy transmitted from space can be 8 to 10 times more effective than Earth based solar systems, and can operate 24 hours per day. The problem of course is the cost of getting payloads into space economically and maintaining a system that's more than 20 thousand miles above the Earth's surface. 

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Before getting into the details of my proposal, it should be pointed out to those people unfamiliar with this idea, that microwave transmission to Earth is not dangerous people passing though them. Microwaves are just another wave form like radio waves and sunlight. 

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Now here is my proposal. Let's make the system self deployable and include redundancy in the active motor system. Better yet let's retain the delivery vehicle/rocket with enough fuel to return back to Earth for repairs if necessary. Of course the self deploying feature would need to a reversal capability. Moreover, let's make the system expandable to larger capacity with additional rocket launches.

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Now regarding the payload economics. As you may or may not know Elon Musk's Space X company is developing returnable rocketry. Thus, diluting the rocket cost with frequent launches. Now here is where it gets really interesting. Because rocket's require an enormous amount of fuel, the fuel cost per launch is the dominant cost factor. So, to offset this cost, let's now use the electricity derived from the solar/microwave systems to convert water into liquefied hydrogen and oxygen using electrolysis and liquefaction. Better yet, let's substitute the hydrogen with with lower cost methane, and sell the hydrogen for a net profit. 

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Are you getting what I'm saying so far? In spite of the initial cost to launch a number of solar/microwave systems, the cost will eventually be dominated by the solar/microwave apparatus cost. For example if we initially confine ourselves to a small 100 kilowatt system, we can generate about 72.000 kilowatt hours per month 24 hours per day. In contrast a typical installed rooftop solar system will generate about 1,300 to 1,500 kilowatt hours per month for a cost of about $35 thousand US dollars. On this basis alone I can afford about $1.8 million US dollars per launch.

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Now hang on to your hats, it gets even better. As an initial first step I'm recommending that we use a 4 stage 3d printed rocket -- a la Relativity Inc. -- to launch my proposed 100 kilowatt system. My calculations show that we will need about 90 thousand kilograms of rocket fuel per launch. At current pricing of about $5 per kilogram -- that's $450 thousand plus the rocket solar system cost. But wait -- remember what I said about using the solar/microwave electricity to generate the fuel? My estimate is that after about 8 to 10 launches we will generate enough slf made fuel to continue launching on a weekly basis. 

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