Japan plans US$21b solar power sat?

[Sam Fraser]

According to this link, yes:

http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/09/01/japan-plans-21-billion-solar-space-post-to-power-294000-homes/

Time to buy a copy of Japanese For Beginners and check airfares to Tokyo? ;)

[Rhyshaelkan]

Once again, if only I had a billion dollars or so.

Moon first.

It is close enough to use tele-operation. Thus eliminating the requirements of a manned mission. Including safety for humans.

Elements to be mined are already pulverized thus allowing for easy beneficiation. "Mining" is as easy as a combine gathering wheat on Terra.

Launch 1

Lander/OTV and fuel processing. The first launch should be a robust lander which will later be used as an Orbit Transfer Vehicle. In addition to the OTV will be an multi-function robot. It will need to gather(combine style), separate(beneficiation), and using hydrogen reduction separate lunar regolith into it's component elements.

For now we are concerned with only the oxygen and aluminum. Other elements will be piled for later use. Aluminum will be powdered and oxygen liquefied. The OTV's fuel tanks will then be purged and refilled with AlLox fuel. From now on, payloads lifted from Terra can have higher mass. The OTV will contain the necessary fuel to transfer the payload from LEO to Luna.

Launch 2

Replacement hydrogen for the minor losses during production. A second miner like the first. A metals forming station which can collect from piled resources melt and extrude iron-titanium-magnesium alloy sheets and beams.

Launch 3

Two assembly bots. The assembly bot will have arms for holding, magnets for holding, an electron beam welder, an auger for drilling post holes, and a bulldozer blade... perhaps a microwave emitter strong enough to fuse the regolith down to a few decimeters, assorted other tools as I can think of more. Point is to construct shelters for human habitation, hydroponics, and workshop for building more bots to expand the manufacturing capability.

Sadly not turning a profit yet, except perhaps selling the real-time video to science networks.

There should be abundant calcium-oxide "waste" at this point. While pure calcium likes to burn or oxidize rapidly in an oxygen environment or sublimate in a vacuum. Coated calcium wire might be useful for building motors for astro-bots. A future launch will bring up an inert atmosphere in which the wiring of said motors could be accomplished. Unless calcium wire can be coated with aluminum or other lunar metal so that it does not sublimate. Calcium could also work as a better substrate for solar cells. Some experimentation is required.

Entire project has three goals:

1. building the infrastructure necessary to build power-sat sub-assembly's

2. pave the way for permanent human habitation of Luna.

3. provide a fuel depot, AlLox fuel, for sale


Will take heavy outlay of cash to start up. But once it is proven that you could deliver a giga-watt powersat into Geosynchronous orbit every six months. The orders should flood in. Thus allowing the remuneration of investment, and expansion of your extraterrestrial efforts. Including the launch of expeditions to NEAs and NEOs.

Thus is how I would like to conqueror space :D

Edit: I guess I should explain. When I term "launch", I would be referring to a fully loaded SpaceX F9H. As plans progressed the final size and weight of landers, OTVs, mining machines, processing units could be reached. At an estimated $65M per launch, I think the whole initial plan could be done for under $1B.

Research is not the goal. While research will eventually come into it's own as funds grow from delivered Power Sats, it is not the priority. Industry and manufacturing are the prime goals. Human presence required for maintenance and setting up production lines. All else should be tele-operation. Humans require too many creature comforts :P

[klaks]

OK,

So, how do we get PERMANENT to get into the process? :)

Seriously, the japanese don't play around when it comes to stuff like this. I know they've got companies that put up proposals and stuff, but if I'm guessing right, the whole Peak fossil fuels thing has them frantic in their long range planning. And now that natural gas prices are low, that makes their natural gas rocket (first in the world), even more attractive to put up payloads. http://www.jaxa.jp/projects/rockets/lng/index_e.html

Seriously, if anyone can do something like this, it's really either Japan or China. And I got my bet more on Japan.

[Rhyshaelkan]

I enjoyed your ideas of funding college students to do much of the research. Concept/design/build the OTV/Lander. CDB the Lunar Mining Machine. And so on.

It all comes down to finding the investors to fund the project. Heck if I won the lotto I would get started talking with the professors and students to start the concept and design phase. You would be the one to ask about how much it might take to fund the concept and design portion. You would also probably be the one to ask for the probable cost of the build phase.

Concept and design will be the big ones though. With that out of the way at least then we should have a good presentation to show to prospective investors. If we could show that for every billion dollars invested we could sell a powersat for $15B. With a start-up time of 5 years? 10 years? All depends on how much ass-hattery goes on in the CDB stage.

I do not care about my penis size or your penis size or who gets to put their name on the vehicle/project/company. I just want to see it happen.