3 ms·

To keep it succinct, gravity keeps you from getting your crap into space, while government keeps you from building useful crap in the first place.

• stcredzero 18y ago
  Gravity is not such a huge barrier. Even 3rd rate governments can overcome it. Iraq, I think in the late 80's, was planning to build a "supergun" that was capable of launching rocket-assisted payloads into orbit for only $600/kg. The prototype was to cost $25 million, which is a drop in the bucket for a government like ours. I $600/kg starts getting you towards the range where building Solar Power Satellites become economical. (Said to be $400-500/kg.) It's not the physics that's the problem. It's the will to do it and the finances!
  • orib 18y ago
    Although you can get stuff into space with a supergun, getting stuff into space without smashing it to bits from the acceleration is a good deal harder. As for solar power satellites, if you're talking about powering earthbound stuff with them, the cost of getting the satellites up doesn't seem to me like it'd be the major issue. I'm not an expert, but from what I do know, the bigger problem would be getting the power back down to earth efficiently and cheaply.
    • stcredzero 18y ago
      1) Building electronic components that can survive 10,000 G is routine. 2) You could send up bulk materials, like thin film collectors, sheet metal, rolls of wire. 3) Getting the power back down is a solved problem. Microwaves do it with 50% efficiency. This cost is already factored into various economic analysis of SPS.