[ExI] Millions of tons to space

[Adrian Tymes]

2011/3/31 Stefano Vaj <stefano.vaj at gmail.com>:
> - You bring "n" tons of energy-generating solar-power stuff of the
> gravitational well by making use of large-scale Project-Orion nuclear
> propulsors (why a continuous flow of materials would be so different from a
> small number of very large launches?);

Because a continuous flow is not, by definition, once and only once - i.e., it
is not finite, save that the lifespan of what it supports is finite
(which is not the
supposition here).  It keeps going.

> - That "n" is calculated in a measure sufficient to send energy back to
> Earth which be enough to maintain and expand your installed space-based
> solar power facilities (e.g., by making use of lasers or by cheaply
> synthetising chemical fuels such hydrogen or hydrocarbons) without the need
> to continue resorting to nuclear propulsion.

You also need those lasers or fuel synthesis plants.  Building them doesn't
require the energy to run them.

Once they are built, the cost of the electricity to run them - until you can
launch enough solar power satellites to generate enough power to run them -
is less than the cost of developing nuclear launchers.