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Comments on Space-Based Solar Power May Yet Happen
'Immediately beneath it hung the photosynthesis stations and the machinery for generating power from solar radiation.'- Olaf Stapledon 1937. (Read the complete story)

"There are so many problems with getting that energy down to Earth. First and foremost is that you can't focus a microwave beam like you can a laser, the energy spread from 22,000 miles up would be huge. Then there's the problem with energy loss over that distance, it's gonna be a LOT more than the 30% you gain by collecting it out there. Then there's the small issue that microwaves heat water, and there's a LOT of water in our skies, they're called clouds. Gigawatts of power will do some interesting things with atmospheric heating."
(Dewtey 3/1/2013 2:56:02 PM)
"And, as if the physical constraints were not overwhelming, human beings insist on creating additional difficulties.
"GEO Slot Rights
"Another major, yet still largely undeveloped, legal question is who owns the right to the "slot" located at the geosynchronous orbit above a particular rectenna. The highly prized equitorial orbit at approximately 36,000 kilometers above mean sea level has the unique characteristic of appearing to maintain the same position relative to the earth's surface, since the object in that orbit has an orbital period matching the earth's rotation period. Ideally, SBSP satellites collecting energy and converting it into a microwave beam for transmission to the surface will be positioned in a suitable location over the equator from which they can reach their targeted receiving rectennas by way of movable "spot beams."
"Who owns - or who controls - the "air rights" to the space far above the atmosphere at GEO? If there is, for example, a communications satellite already located there, does it have primacy by reason of prior arrival? If a company receives approval to locate its SBSP collecting satellite at a particular spot, is it entitled to that location in perpetuity, or for the life of the satellite? In general, since most of the orbital slots in GEO have already been assigned to interested nations, and not to individuals or companies, it will fall to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and the regulatory agencies of nations to adjudicate such questions."
(Via Legal Issues for Space Based Solar Power)

"
(Bill Christensen 3/1/2013 3:37:18 PM)

"Well, it would certainly create a No Fly Zone, wouldn't it?"
(Dewtey 3/2/2013 5:47:13 AM)

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