Another news story, this one from Wired

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Keith Henson

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Feb 7, 2023, 6:08:14 PM2/7/23
to Power Satellite Economics

Keith Henson

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Feb 8, 2023, 11:43:06 AM2/8/23
to Claudio Cioffi, Power Satellite Economics
Good list.

One of the factors you don't see discussed very much is the scale of this project if it is going to have a significant impact.  To replace 1/3rd of human energy use takes about 1000 5 GW power sats.  Constructed over 20 years that is 50 per year.  At 500 100 ton flights per power satellite, that is 25,000 flights per year.  It is unclear if this amount of traffic can fly without too much damage to the ozone layer.

Some years ago I talked NOAA into analyzing this problem for the hydrogen burning Skylon, but the analysis has not been done for methane burners.

Keith


On Wed, Feb 8, 2023 at 7:48 AM Claudio Cioffi <cciof...@gmail.com> wrote:
Great to see this on-topic piece in this list on Space-based Solar Power Economics! 

When it comes to solving optimization problems that include a joint (inseparable) mix of continuous variables and discrete variables (so-called hybrid functions) it will be interesting to see which formal methodologies are used to find solutions. Continuous variables are obviously energy, distances, speed, costs, time, and so on. Discrete dimensions include parts, components, array sizes, redundancies, and cardinalities, all of which consist of integer/natural numbers that cannot always be approximated by continuous methods but require separate discrete formalisms to model with precision. Any function that includes some mix of the two is a hybrid function.  An open challenge consists of the unified calculus of hybrid functions within a single analytical framework that can provide exact solutions (i.e., free of approximation errors), especially when the discrete dimensions take on small values, say, lower that 10.

–––
Claudio Cioffi-Revilla, Ph.D., D.Sc.Pol.
University Professor Emeritus, George Mason University
Jefferson Science Fellow, National Academy of Sciences
Fellow, AAAS American Association for the Advancement of Science
        



      
Research Gate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Claudio_Cioffi
Academic page: https://socialcomplexity.gmu.edu/faculty/csc-faculty-dr-cioffi/
National Academies page:   http://sites.nationalacademies.org/PGA/Jefferson/PGA_046486
ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6445-9433

On Feb 7, 2023, at 6:07 PM, Keith Henson <hkeith...@gmail.com> wrote:

https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wired.com%2Fstory%2Fa-bold-plan-to-beam-solar-energy-down-from-space%2F&data=05%7C01%7Cccioffi%40gmu.edu%7Cb80ed424c9a6432e77a608db09611fca%7C9e857255df574c47a0c00546460380cb%7C0%7C0%7C638114084977533167%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=6T6iJPeRcanRT9VQb9JYRHeDJuXHyF4E4mH9mruMx2k%3D&reserved=0

Keith

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