[ExI] Power satellites (was: Is Global Warming Junk Science?)

[John K Clark]

"Keith Henson" <hkeithhenson at gmail.com>

> critics of power satellites have said the energy payback will be terrible.
> If you calculate it for rockets, which are about as inefficient as you can
> get, the energy payback is around 100 days for lifting materials to GEO
> (at 5kg/kW).  By the usual measure of such numbers (a number of years)
> that's extremely good.  But it's possible I am the only one who has ever
> run that calculation and I don't think anyone has checked it.

I don't see the point of checking your calculation because it doesn't matter
if it's right or wrong. The reason putting something into geosynchronous
orbit is so astronomically expensive is not because of the high cost of
rocket fuel.

 John K Clark