Asteroid Capture for Space Solar Power

ASTEROID CAPTURE FOR SPACE SOLAR POWER: A PROJECT PLAN Stephen D. Covey RamblingsOnTheFutureOfHumanity.blogspot.com

ASTEROID CAPTURE FOR SPACE SOLAR POWER: A PROJECT PLAN  Assumptions  Project Phases 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Capture 99942 Apophis into Earth orbit Launch mining & manufacturing tools Launch construction shacks & workers Construct & deploy Solar Power Satellites Construct a worker/colonist habitat Repeat 4 & 5 with remaining asteroid resources

 Return On Investment  Areas for Research & Development  Summary

ASSUMPTIONS  Capture an Asteroid into LEO: 99942 Apophis  Timeframe:    

   

Project start in 2027, Launch capture mission in early 2028, Orbit capture April 2030 Mining mission starts 2030

SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy launch vehicle Pricing in 2011 dollars Worker launch costs $24M -> $1M/person Not included in budgets (addressed later):  In-space worker salaries  Most R&D costs

 Sales of energy funds everything

Capture Apophis into Earth Orbit  The capture mission begins 2027:  Assemble tugship in LEO  Intercept injection via lunar slingshot Oct-2027  5 months to intercept  10 months of thrust to change Apophis orbit  3 month coast  Earth slingshot - April 13, 2029  12 month coast  Lunar slingshot & drop into Earth orbit, Apr-2030

 Capture mission duration 30+ months

Tugship for Apophis Capture  Launch into LEO:     

Core ship (crew quarters, life support, 50 t) Fuel/thruster assemblies (100 t) Solar panels (200m, 12 megawatts, 100 t) Total equipment: $1.5B, 250 tons 5 launches ($600M)

 Launch assembly crew & construction shack:

$1.6B (with training, tools, supplies, 2 launches)  Assemble (12-18 person-months)  Launch mission crew & supplies: 1 launch @ $100M  Total capture: $3.8B

LAUNCH MINING & MANUFACTURING TOOLS Solar power generator: 1 launch, $200M Mining facilities: 2 launches, $400M Solar smelter, gas refining, metals: 5 launches, $1B Steel production: 5 launches, $1B Rolling mill: 3 launches, $600M Finished metal product plant: 2 launches, $400M Silicon refinery, solar panel manufacturing (3 launches, $600M)  Slag processing & handling: (1 launch, $200M)  Total estimate: $4.4B equipment & 22 launches spanning 2030-2031       

LAUNCH WORKERS & HOUSING Year Workers Steel SPS Production Builds / Tons/Day Year

Per Worker Cost

Total Cost To Date

2030 36

Setup

$33M

$9.4B

2031

500

100

Setup

$10M

$14.4B

2032

1500

200

1

$5M

$19.6B

2033

3500

400

2

$2.5M

$25.0B

2034

7500

800

4

$1M

$29.8B

800

8

2035

CONSTRUCT A 5 GW SPS  Solar panels (16 square kilometers)  Steel support structures  Microwave transmitting antenna (1 km)

 Microwave transmitter (from Earth)  Protective shield

 Total mass 25,000 tons

DEPLOY THE SPSs  Build near asteroid in HEO  Deploy into GEO (2 km/s)  Deployment fuel (1,000 tons)

 Install microwave transmitter launched from Earth  Construct ground receiving station  10+ km rectenna  $1 B (born by receiving electric utility)

KALPANA ONE HABITAT - DESIGN  100 meter radius, 130 meter wide cylinder  Spinning at 3 rpm  10 t/m2 slag shield (1.6 Mt)  1-inch thick steel shell (28 kt)  126 kt of interior steel structures

 Solar Power (6kw/person, 50 Mw total)  Capacity 8,000 workers

KALPANA ONE HABITAT - FEATURES  Lots of room (square feet):  5,500,000 agricultural:  2,500,000 residential (300 sf/person)

 1,500,000 office, light industrial, retail  1,000,000 storage & overhead  50x130 meter core zero-G cylinder for

research & industry  12 acre cylindrical park (100x250 meters)

REPEAT UNTIL RESOURCES EXHAUSTED  8 Year Plan  1 habitat for 8,000 people  15 five-gigawatt solar power satellites  Over 90% of Apophis remains

 Continue Building 8 SPSs/Year  Global Demand: 2 Tw (400 SPSs)  More (& Larger) Habitats  Near GEO  LEO  Mars?

RETURN ON INVESTMENT Year

Event

Expense

2027

Launch

2030

Cash Flow (Sales of Electricity)

Cash Flow (Sales of SPSs)

$3.8B

$3.8B

$3.8B

M&M

$5.6B

$9.4B

$9.4B

2033

1st SPS

$15.6B

$1.3B

$23.7B

$14.6B

2034

3 SPSs

$4.8B

$3.9B

$24.6B

$5.2B

2035

7 SPSs

$1.6B

$9.1B

$17.1B

$43.6B

2036

15 SPSs

$0

$19.5B

$0.8B

$82.0B

$19.5B

$20.3B

+$40 B/yr

2037+

Revenue

RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT Heavy lift (or super heavy lift) launch vehicles Space taxies / trucks (tugships) Long-term life support Zero-G mining, smelting, refining, manufacturing  Manufacturing solar panels  High-efficiency multi-gigawatt microwave transmitters / receivers  Large-scale in-space construction techniques (of SPS and habitats) with limited resources    

CONCLUSION  2036: Breakeven ($25B peak outflow)  2037: $19.5B/year Profits (10% Apophis)  2053: (assuming +8 SPS/year)  150 SPSs deployed  $195B/year revenue  12 orbital habitats; 100,000 person capacity

 The asteroid Apophis is only a memory

 But there are more asteroids out there!

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