Glad to hear from this group, after years have gone by, and see it is
still up and going. A very important subject. I created a new identity
here, since my old one got lost long ago.

Especially of interest now since my own pet project has its initial
justification for a means to put the Solar Power Sats into GEO in the
much nearer future. Other potential important apps also become
interesting once the transporation capability is in place, of course.

I've seen the basic microwave power transfer process demonstarated at
space conferences several times, including the last time Brown did it,
before he passed away, a great pioneer.

I think it would be very useful to use conventional launch vehicles to
put a SSPS into orbit, preferably into GEO, that delivers even 10
watts on the ground received at night. The shakers and movers of this
world require a real demo before they believe in anything enough to
make it happen fullscale.

That the energy return, for putting enough SSPS (SPS) into GEO to
provide clean energy for most of civilization in the near future,
cannot be done adequately efficiently by SPS put into GEO by
conventional launch vehicles, has long been the overwhelming main
problem.

The "Space Elevator" transportation concept is nearing reality as
carbon nanotube tether material approaches. This is an anchored tether
structure, from the earth surface at equator, held in place by
centrifugal force of a counterweight out beyond GEO. Payload must be
still carried up and down the tether by externally applied power, such
as by tracked beam high power lasers.

Although a tether space transportation dreamer from way back (I too
was one of those who thought I had found the path to space via such an
anchored tether, back circa 1969, then a few calculations showed no
tether material had anything near an adequate strength to mass ratio;
I went on to design a constant stress crossection fiberglass lunar
anchored tether instead (Mooncable: Gravitational Electric Siphon in
Space", which got ignored in 1972 by NASA in its financial woes), I
have gone into a different path for getting to space in an adequate
efficiency and capacity for a large expansion of civilization into
space. I tried to get the NCS to pay attention to the concepts of
Lofstrom, Hyde, and Earl Smith via my testimony to it in 1985, which
also got ignored. By 1988 I had merged their (Lofstrom, Hyde, Smith
and others) concepts into what has become my concept called "KESTS to
GEO", and after much struggle I've finally had three technical papers
on the subject published. Yet, I am getting old, lifetime running out
for me to get this done. I'd like to get some responsible,
wide-visioned businesses going on it.

So my pet project is a concept for electrically powered transportation
structures operating between the ground (equator) and GEO (because
things stay there when put there, no booster needed). My concepts have
gotten ignored, snubbed, even laughed at by influential powerful
people; yet so far no one has presented technical reasons why it would
not work. And yes, the social, business, aspects are more the
problems. It would really require huge changes in business structure,
and the people who are in power do not like disruptions to their
hard-won high positions, mere human psychology. They will move when
the crunch is dislodging them too; yet can this be done with resources
remaining then, I wonder.

It (KESTS to GEO, acronym for Kinetic Energy Supported Transportation
Sturctures to Geostationary Earth Orbit) is a conceptual design for an
electric motor infilling a quasi-Orbital Transfer Trajectory shape
between earth radius and GEO radius; dual synchronous armature
functions, inner armature as a mass stream flowing at above OTV so as
to produce surplus outward centrifugal force set to just over that
which balances the force of gravity on the stationary part of the
"motor" with its loads (the extra provides an overall upward tensile
force helping stabilize the structure); momentum from that high
velocity armature mass stream is inductively tapped by vehicles riding
the structure between ground and GEO, so vehicles do not carry energy
source nor need to have energy beamed at them enroute. Many vehicles
can be riding the structure to and from space simultaneously, and much
of spacecraft mass decending energy is reclaimed by the system.

My online writings on the subject can be found at
http://www.kestsgeo.com and earlier pages at
http://home.earthlink.net/~jedcline/

Not just for putting adequate SPS into GEO before we have burned up
our petrochemicals and poisoned the atmosphere too much in the
process, to preserve an expanding thriving worldwide civilization; but
also to enable mass-charge ratio separation solar powered total
recycling plants built and used in GEO, move reaction engine
spaceportf up to GEO (91% up out of earth's gravitational energy
well), and even building Stanford Torus passively shielded cities in
space in GEO, all before major access to lunar and asteroidal
materials widely available there. Potential energy costs are in range
of a few dollars per kg lifted from ground to GEO, key to the
applications and expansion of civilization into earth orbit in near
future (were we to do that, which we aren't.)

I applaud Rutan's success in keeping the dream of space access alive,
by use of reaction engine technology. Such was my dream too, of much
of my life. Yet surely we must also plan a transportation system which
has the potential for adequate continuous space access from the
ground, and do it fairly soon.