FILE NAME

DDI 2008 <CM>

Your Name

SPS Supplement
SPS Supplement.......................................................................................................................................................................................1
SPS Supplement.....................................................................................................................................................1
Why SBSP?..............................................................................................................................................................................................3
Why SBSP?.............................................................................................................................................................3
SPS→Space Colonization........................................................................................................................................................................4
SPS→Space Colonization......................................................................................................................................4
AT: Won’t Leave the Rock.......................................................................................................................................................................5
AT: Won’t Leave the Rock....................................................................................................................................5
AT: Ground Based Solar..........................................................................................................................................................................6
AT: Ground Based Solar.......................................................................................................................................6
NSSO Study is Legit................................................................................................................................................................................7
NSSO Study is Legit..............................................................................................................................................7
Key to Heg...............................................................................................................................................................................................8
Key to Heg..............................................................................................................................................................8
AT: DoD CP.............................................................................................................................................................................................9
AT: DoD CP............................................................................................................................................................9
AT: Krypton...........................................................................................................................................................................................10
AT: Krypton..........................................................................................................................................................10
AT: Space Militarization........................................................................................................................................................................11
AT: Space Militarization......................................................................................................................................11
AT: Microwaves Bad.............................................................................................................................................................................12
AT: Microwaves Bad............................................................................................................................................12
SBSP key to China Econ........................................................................................................................................................................13
SBSP key to China Econ......................................................................................................................................13
Space Weapons key to Heg....................................................................................................................................................................15
Space Weapons key to Heg..................................................................................................................................15
SPS inevitable........................................................................................................................................................................................16
SPS inevitable.......................................................................................................................................................16
SPS→NASA Backlash...........................................................................................................................................................................17
SPS→NASA Backlash.........................................................................................................................................17
SPS revitalizes NASA............................................................................................................................................................................18
SPS revitalizes NASA..........................................................................................................................................18

1
FILE NAME
DDI 2008 <CM>
Your Name

2
FILE NAME
DDI 2008 <CM>
Your Name

Why SBSP?
SPS, SSP, and SBSP all mean the same thing
Ad Astra, award-winning magazine of the National Space Society, featuring the latest news in space exploration, Spring 2008,
“Space-Based Solar Power”, http://www.nss.org/adastra/AdAstra-SBSP-2008.pdf, BB
Why SBSP versus SSP? One of the more amusing anecdotes of constructing the Phase 0 SBSP Architecture Study is the
influence of modern information technology systems on our language. Many people familiar with the concept of space
solar power (SSP), or solar power satellites (SPS) wondered where and why after 40 years of consistency, the Pentagon
would decide to rechristen it “space-based solar power,” or SBSP. If one is trading many e-mails, typing space solar power
gets tedious. So like any good military organization, abbreviations become the language of choice. But in the early stages, one
of the core study members had a firewall that would kick-back or “disappear” any e-mail with “SSP” in it. Apparently
some monetary, provocative, or medical scam had used the acronym, and it was thus blocked by a spam filter. Despite
pleadings to allow these official e-mails, the IT powers-that-be would not relent. Therefore the recipient begged for a re-title
of “SSP” to “SBSP” so the e-mails could get through. So, a four-decade history of common nomenclature was replaced
because of IT inflexibility, or alternately, because of some illicit spammer that had an alternate definition of SSP. As
Paul Harvey would say, “Now you know the rest of the story.”

––The NSSO SBSP Study Group, a.k.a. The Caballeros

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FILE NAME
DDI 2008 <CM>
Your Name

SPS→Space Colonization
Solar Powered Satellites are key to building the infrastructure necessary to
colonize space
Al Globus, Senior Research Associate for Human Factors Research and Technology at San Jose State University at NASA Ames
Research Center. He was previously visiting research associate at the Molecular Engineering Laboratory in the chemistry department
of the University of California at Santa Cruz., Sept. 22, 2005,” Space Settlement Basics”
http://www.nas.nasa.gov/About/Education/SpaceSettlement/Basics/wwwwh.html, BB
3. Solar Power Satellites. Electrical power is a multi-hundred billion dollar per year business today. We know how to
generate electricity in space using solar cells. For example, the ISS provides about 80 kilowatts continuously from an acre of
solar arrays. By building much larger satellites out of hundreds of solar arrys, it is possible to generate a great deal of
electrical power. This can be converted to microwaves and beamed to Earth to provide electricity with absolutely no
greenhouse gas emissions or toxic waste of any kind. If transportation to orbit is inexpensive following development of
the tourist industry, much of Earth's power could be provided from space, simultaneously providing a large profitable
business and dramatically reducing pollution on Earth. 4. Asteroidal Metals. John Lewis in Mining the Sky: Untold
Riches from Asteroids, Comets, and Planets estimates that the current market value of the metals in 3554 Amun, one small
nearby asteroid, is about $20 Trillion. There's $8 trillion worth of iron and nickel, $6 trillion worth of cobalt, and about
$6 trillion in platinum-group metals. Once we can easily launch thousands of people into orbit, and build giant solar
power satellites, it shouldn't be too difficult to retrieve 3554 Amun and other asteroids to supply Earth with all the
metals we will ever need. Each of these steps is potentially profitable on its own merits. Once they are completed, we will
be able to put people in orbit inexpoensively, generate large amounts of power, and supply ample materials from NEOs
and perhaps the Moon -- all the elements needed to build the first space colony.

SPS systems get us off the rock.

John C. Mankins, President of ARTEMIS Innovation Management Solutions LLC, Co-founder of Managed Energy Technologies
LLC, led NASA’s SSP “Fresh Look Study” in the mid-1990s, managed the SSP Exploratory Research & Technology (SERT) Program,
creator of several SunTower, Solar Clipper, President of the Sunsat Energy Council (testified before the U.S. Congress on the topic on
several occasions “A Fresh Look at Space Solar Power: New Architectures, Concepts and Technologies,” 1997,
http://www.spacefuture.com/archive/a_fresh_look_at_space_solar_power_new_architectures_concepts_and_technologies.shtml, BB
Lastly, there are a number of potential applications of these technologies in future human exploration missions,
including the moon, Mars and asteroids in the inner solar system. These include: megawatt-class SEPS Lunar cargo space
transfer vehicles Lunar orbit WPT for Lunar surface power affordable human Mars mission transportation systems. Of these,
the concept of using multi-megawatt-class space solar power systems to achieve very low cost Mars mission concepts
appears to have particular leverage. By using systems that are amenable to low-cost, multi-unit, modular
manufacturing, even though the overall system masses are not lower, the cost appears to be significantly lower.
Example: The "SolarClipper". An especially intriguing opportunity is that of using affordable megawatt-class space power for
interplanetary space missions. It appears to be possible to reduce the cost for Earth surface-to-Mars orbit transportation
dramatically through the use of very advanced, large-scale space solar power in a solar electric propulsion system
(SEPS) approach. The basic architectural strategies of the SolarClipper concept are straightforward.

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FILE NAME
DDI 2008 <CM>
Your Name

AT: Won’t Leave the Rock

Humans will leave the rock—Laundry List
Al Globus, Senior Research Associate for Human Factors Research and Technology at San Jose State University at NASA Ames
Research Center. He was previously visiting research associate at the Molecular Engineering Laboratory in the chemistry department
of the University of California at Santa Cruz., Sept. 22, 2005,” Space Settlement Basics”
http://www.nas.nasa.gov/About/Education/SpaceSettlement/Basics/wwwwh.html, BB
Growth Why build space settlements? Why do weeds grow through cracks in sidewalks? Why did life crawl out of the
oceans and colonize land? Because living things want to grow and expand. We have the ability to live in space (see the
bibliography), therefore we will -- but not this fiscal year The key advantage of space settlements is the ability to build
new land, rather than take it from someone else. This allows a huge expansion of humanity without war or destruction
of Earth's biosphere. The asteroids alone provide enough material to make new orbital land hundreds of times greater
than the surface of the Earth, divided into millions of colonies. This land can easily support trillions of people. A Nice
Place to Live A few features of orbital real estate are worth mentioning: * Great Views. Many astronauts have returned
singing the praises of their view of Earth from orbit. Low earth orbit settlements, and eventually settlements near Jupiter and
Saturn, will have some of the most spectacular views in the solar system. Of course, all space settlements will have
unmatched views of the stars, unhindered by clouds, air pollution, or (with some care) bright city lights. * Low-g
recreation. Consider circular swimming pools around and near the axis of rotation. You should be able to dive up into the
water! Sports and dance at low or zero-g will be fantastic. For dancers, note that in sufficiently low gravity, always available
near the axis of rotation, anyone can jump ten times higher than Baryshnikov ever dreamed. * Environmental
Independence. On Earth we all share a single biosphere. We breathe the same air, drink the same water, and the misdeeds of
some are visited on the bodies of all. Each space settlement is completely sealed and does no share atmosphere or water
with other settlements or with Earth. Thus if one settlement pollutes their air, no one else need breathe it. * The
ultimate gated community. On Earth it is essential that diverse groups learn to live in close proximity. It's hard to live
with five or six billion homo sapiens, and some people can't seem to do it gracefully. Space settlements offer an
alternative to changing human nature or endless conflict -- the ability to live in fairly homogeneous groups, as has been
the norm throughout hundreds of thousands of years of human existence. Those who can't get along can be separated
by millions of miles of hard vaccum, which in some cases seems necessary. All entry into a space settlement must be
through an airlock, so controlling immigration should be trivial. * Custom living. Since the entire environment is man-made,
you can really get what you want. Like lake front property? Make lots of lakes. Like sunsets? Program sunset simulations into
wether system every hour. Like to go barefoot? Make the entire environment foot-friendly. Survival Someday the Earth will
become uninhabitable. Before then humanity must move off the planet or become extinct. One potential near term
disaster is collision with a large comet or asteroid. Such a collision could kill billions of people. Large collisions have
occured in the past, destroying many species. Future collisions are inevitable, although we don't know when. Note that in
July 1994, the cometShoemaker-Levy 9 (1993e) hit Jupiter If there were a major collision today, not only would billions of
people die, but recovery would be difficult since everyone would be affected. If major space settlements are built before
the next collision, the unaffected space settlements can provide aid, much as we offer help when disaster strikes another
part of the world. Building space settlements will require a great deal of material. If NEOs are used, then any asteroids
heading for Earth can simply be torn apart to supply materials for building colonies and saving Earth at the same time.
Power and Wealth Those that colonize space will control vast lands, enormous amounts of electrical power, and nearly
unlimited material resources. The societies that develop these resources will create wealth beyond our wildest
imagination and wield power -- hopefully for good rather than for ill. In the past, societies which have grown by
colonization have gained wealth and power at the expense of those who were subjugated. Unlike previous colonization
programs, space colonization will build new land, not steal it from the natives. Thus, the power and wealth
born of space colonization will not come at the expense of others, but rather represent the fruits of great labors.

5
FILE NAME
DDI 2008 <CM>
Your Name

AT: Ground Based Solar

Ground-based Solar power is comparatively worse—collects less energy,
difficult to work
Ad Astra, award-winning magazine of the National Space Society, featuring the latest news in space exploration, Spring 2008,
“Space-Based Solar Power”, http://www.nss.org/adastra/AdAstra-SBSP-2008.pdf, BB
To be economically viable in a particular location on Earth, groundbased solar power must overcome three hurdles.
First, it must be daytime. Second, the solar array must be able to see the sun. Finally, the sunlight must pass through the
bulk of the atmosphere itself. The sky must be clear. Even on a seemingly clear day, high level clouds in the atmosphere
may reduce the amount of sunlight that reaches the ground. Also various local obstacles such as mountains, buildings or
trees may block incoming sunlight. The longer the path traveled, the more sunlight is absorbed or scattered by the air so
that less of it reaches the surface. Altogether, these factors reduce the average energy produced by a conventional
ground-based solar array by as much as a factor of 75 to 80 percent. And ground solar arrays may be subjected to
hours, days, or even weeks of cloud cover—periods when the array produces no energy at all. By comparison, the sun
shines continuously in space. And in space, sunlight carries about 35 percent more energy than sunlight attenuated by
the air before it reaches the Earth’s surface. No weather, no nighttime, no seasonal changes; space is an obvious place to
collect energy for use on Earth.

6
FILE NAME
DDI 2008 <CM>
Your Name

NSSO Study is Legit

NSSO study is legit—A wide number important groups worked on it.
Col. “Coyote” Smith of the NSSO SBSP Study Group, a.k.a. The Caballeros, Ad Astra, award-winning magazine of the National
Space Society, featuring the latest news in space exploration, Spring 2008, “Space-Based Solar Power”,
http://www.nss.org/adastra/AdAstra-SBSP-2008.pdf, BB
On October 10th last year (2007) the National Security Space Office (NSSO) presented a “Space-Based Solar Power
Interim Assessment” with great fanfare at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. The event was co-sponsored by the
National Space Society who joined in announcing the formation of a new organization, the Space Solar Alliance for Future
Energy (SSAFE), an alliance of thirteen well established space organizations, dedicated to “pursuing the recommendations of
the SBSP study.” Stories about space-based solar power appeared in print for weeks, and continue still. More importantly,
countries around the globe took notice, as did a number of private entrepreneurs, and many are looking with fresh interest at
the possibility of building space-based solar power systems of their own. How did this come to be? In April, after Major
General Jim Armor, then the Director of the NSSO (and my boss), received a very convincing briefing on the many
reasons America should pursue space-based solar power by Colonel Mike “Green Hornet” Hornitschek, he came to me and
said, “Coyote, I have no budget for this, but I want you to lead a six-month study on how to make space-based solar
power a reality. This is just too important to America, its Allies, and the world. We all need clean energy for our
security. You have six months. Brief me on your plan tomorrow.” Great. Solve the energy and environmental problems with
zero funds. This was a Dilbert moment for me. Welcome to the Pentagon. The next day I met with the General. I explained that
the only way I could imagine doing this was over the open internet in a Google Group or blog. He told me, “Coyote, nobody in
the DoD has ever developed a future concept on the open Internet. This is risky, but this is just too important. Go ahead.” I
figured I’d get a dozen or so scientists and engineers to participate in an access-controlled Google Group that I built.
Boy was I wrong. Within a few weeks, I had just under 200 of America’s top scientists, engineers, business people,
lobbyists, lawyers, political staffers, academics, and entrepreneurs pouring their heart and soul into this project—for
exactly the right price—free! I actually had to break the original site into five and create a totally public Web site with the
help of the Space Frontier Foundation (http://spacesolarpower.wordpress.com/). By the time the study ended in early
September, before the conference hosted by the Air Force Academy’s Eisenhower Center to brief the study findings, the
total number of taxpayer dollars spent to study space-based solar power by the Pentagon was exactly…zero. True space
advocates—many were members of the National Space Society and other fine space-focused organizations—gave their
time and energy and demonstrated that there is a huge thirst for MORE SPACE not only in America, but also around this tiny
globe. They made a huge difference!

The NSSO study is legit—Collected input from 170 experts on 5 different

topics.
NSS, National Space Society, an independent, educational, grassroots, non-profit organization, “Space-Based Solar Power As an
Opportunity for Strategic Security”, http://www.nss.org/settlement/ssp/library/nsso.htm, 7/28/2008, BB
In March of 2007, the National Security Space Office (NSSO) Advanced Concepts Office (“Dreamworks”) presented this
idea to the agency director. Recognizing the potential for this concept to influence not only energy, but also space, economic,
environmental, and national security, the Director instructed the Advanced Concepts Office to quickly collect as much
information as possible on the feasibility of this concept. Without the time or funds to contract for a traditional architecture
study, Dreamworks turned to an innovative solution: the creation on April 21, 2007, of an open source, internet-based,
interactive collaboration forum aimed at gathering the world’s SBSP experts into one particular cyberspace. Discussion grew
immediately and exponentially, such that there are now 170 active contributors as of the release of this report—this
study approach was an unequivocal success and should serve as a model for DoD when considering other study topics.
Study leaders organized discussions into five groups: 1) a common plenary session, 2) science & technology, 3) law &
policy, 4) infrastructure and logistics, and 5) the business case, and challenged the group to answer one fundamental
question: Can the United States and partners enable the development and deployment of a space-based solar power
system within the first half of the 21st Century such that if constructed could provide affordable, clean, safe, reliable,
sustainable, and expandable energy for its consumers? Discussion results were summarized and presented at a two-day
conference in Colorado on 6-7 September graciously hosted by the U.S. Air Force Academy Eisenhower Center for Space and
Defense Studies.

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FILE NAME
DDI 2008 <CM>
Your Name

Key to Heg
SBSP key to Heg—required to solving energy conflicts, and solving military
vulnerabilities
Ad Astra, award-winning magazine of the National Space Society, featuring the latest news in space exploration, Spring 2008,
“Space-Based Solar Power”, http://www.nss.org/adastra/AdAstra-SBSP-2008.pdf, BB
So why do we not have SSP satellites in orbit today when the NRC validated the concept as scientifically sound and on a
healthy path toward technical feasibility as recently as five years ago? Over the course of 40 years the answer has
always centered around “the business case” in the face of less-expensive competing conventional terrestrial energy
sources. But that calculus is about to change. The very real risks of climate change, energy nationalism and scarcity,
unconstrained tech nology explosion, and potential resource conflicts weigh heavily on the futurist minds of the action
officers of the Air Force Future Concepts and Transformations Office and National Security Space Office (NSSO)
“Dreamworks.” These officers are charged with visualizing the world 25-or-more years from now, and informing and
guiding Air Force and space strategy development. For a military that is fundamentally dependent on high-energy
capabilities to protect its nation and the international commons for the good of all humanity, not only are the strategic
risks associated with energy scarcity that lie ahead great, but so too are the operational and tactical vulnerabilities for
the finest war-fighting and peacekeeping machine humans have ever known.

8
FILE NAME
DDI 2008 <CM>
Your Name

AT: DoD CP
The DOD is cash strapped and can’t implement the plan
Leonard David, Special Correspondent, Space News, 19 September 2007, “Space Based Solar Power Fuels Vision of Global Energy
Security”, http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/070919_sps_airforce.html, BB
"I truly believe that space based solar power will become the first sellable, tradable commodity that's delivered by space
that everybody on the planet can have part of," said Colonel (Select) Michael Smith, Chief, Future Concepts in the National
Security Space Office and director of the SBSP study. To bolster such a vision, establishing a partnership of government,
commercial and international entities is under discussion, he added, to work on infrastructure development that, ultimately,
culminates in the fielding of space based solar power. The U.S. Department of Defense has an "absolute urgent need for
energy," Smith said, underscoring the concern that major powers around the world – not just the United States – could
end up in a major war of attrition in the 21st century. "We've got to make sure that we alleviate the energy concerns around
the globe," he said. "Energy may well be the first tangible commodity returned from space," said Joseph Rouge, Associate
Director of the National Security Space Office. "Geopolitics in general is going to be a large issue. I don't think there's any
question that energy is going to be one of the key next issues, along with water ... that's going to be the competition we're
going to fight." Rouge said that moving out on the proposed SBSP effort would be the largest space venture yet, making the
Apollo Moon landing project "look like just a small little program." As a caveat, however, he noted that the U.S. Department
of Defense is cash-strapped and is not the financial backer for such an endeavor. "But do look to us to help you develop
the technologies and developing a lot of the other infrastructure," Rouge advised, seeing SBSP, for instance, as helping to spur
a significant reduction in the cost of routine access to space for the U.S. and its allies.

9
FILE NAME
DDI 2008 <CM>
Your Name

AT: Krypton
SSP satellites are made mostly from silicon and metals
Ad Astra, award-winning magazine of the National Space Society, featuring the latest news in space exploration, Spring 2008,
“Space-Based Solar Power”, http://www.nss.org/adastra/AdAstra-SBSP-2008.pdf, BB
SSP satellites can be made largely of silicon and metals: silicon to convert sunlight to energy, and metals for structure,
mirrors, and the antenna. The Apollo program proved conclusively that the moon contains large quantities of both.
Launch from the moon requires far less energy than launch from Earth, because the moon is much smaller and therefore exerts
a much weaker gravitational pull. Also, geosynchronous orbit is 12,400 m/s from the Earth’s surface, but only 4,600 m/s from
the surface of the moon. Of course, launch from the moon would also have no effect on the Earth’s atmosphere.

10
FILE NAME
DDI 2008 <CM>
Your Name

AT: Space Militarization

No Space weapons—SBSP will not militarize space, laundry list
Ad Astra, award-winning magazine of the National Space Society, featuring the latest news in space exploration, Spring 2008,
“Space-Based Solar Power”, http://www.nss.org/adastra/AdAstra-SBSP-2008.pdf, BB
When first confronted with the idea of gigawatts of coherent energy being beamed from a spacebased solar power
(SBSP) satellite, people immediately ask, “wouldn’t that make a powerful weapon?” Depending on their bias that could
either be a good thing: developing a disruptive capability to enhance U.S. power, or a bad thing: proliferating weapons to
space. But the NSSO is not interested in spacebased solar power as a weapon. 1. The DoD is not looking to SBSP for new
armaments capabilities. Its motivation for studying SBSP is to identify sources of energy at a reasonable cost anywhere
in the world, to shorten the logistics lines and huge amount of infrastructure needed to support military combat
operations, and to prevent conflicts over energy as current sources become increasingly costly. 2. SBSP does not offer
any capability as a weapon that does not already exist in much less expensive options. For example, the nation already
has working ICBMs with nuclear warheads should it choose to use them to destroy large enemy targets. 3. SBSP is not
suitable for attacking ground targets. The peak intensity of the microwave beam that reaches the ground is less than a
quarter of noon-sunlight; a worker could safely walk in the center of the beam. The physics of microwave transmission
and deliberate safe-design of the transmitting antenna act to prevent beam focusing above a pre-determined maximum intensity
level. Additionally, by coupling the transmitting beam to a unique ground-based pilot signal, the beam can be designed
to instantly diffuse should pilot signal lock ever be lost or disrupted. 4. SBSP would not be a precision weapon. Today’s
militaries are looking for more precise and lower collateral-damage weapons. At several kilometers across, the beam
from geostationary Earth orbit is just too wide to shoot individual targets—even if the intensity were sufficient to cause
harm. 5. SBSP is an anti-war capability. America can use the existing technical expertise in its military to catalyze an
energy transformation that lessens the likelihood of conflict between great powers over energy scarcity, lessens the need
to intervene in failed states which cannot afford required energy, helps the world climb from poverty to prevent the
spawn of terrorism, and averts the potential costs and disaster responses from climate change. Solving the long-term
energy scarcity problem is too vital to the world’s future to have it derailed by a misconception that space solar power
might somehow be used as a weapon. That is why it is so important to educate people about this technology and to continue
to conduct the research in an open environment.

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FILE NAME
DDI 2008 <CM>
Your Name

AT: Microwaves Bad

Microwaves safe—Not strong enough to hurt people
Air & Space Magazine, July 01, 2008, Linda Shiner, staff writer, “Where the Sun Does Shine”,
http://www.airspacemag.com/space-exploration/Sun_Does_Shine.html?c=y&page=3, BB
Perhaps the biggest hurdle facing space solar power is public concern about how low-level microwave beams will affect
animals and humans. Never mind that the fear remains unfounded. Because of the widespread use of microwaves for
communication, the Federal Communications Commission has established a safety standard for human exposure. In all
proposed space power systems, the expected power density at the edges of the receiving antenna, where people are most
likely to be affected, meets the standard. But explaining this to the public, which hears “microwave” and thinks “oven,”
might require a large and costly education campaign. Another worry, that microwave beams could scramble a passing
airliner’s avionics or harm passengers, could be addressed by restricting the airspace around the beams, just as the Federal
Aviation Administration restricts the airspace over nuclear power plants. Space power advocates may find it instructive to study
the political struggles of the nuclear power industry.

12
FILE NAME
DDI 2008 <CM>
Your Name

SBSP key to China Econ

SBSP are key to the Chinese economy- it is the ONLY technology that can meet
their energy needs
The Space Review, Taylor Dinerman, an author and journalist, 10/22/2007, “China, the US, and space solar power”,
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/985/1, BB,
The biggest factor in world affairs in the next twenty or so years is the rise of China to true great power status. Leaving
aside the political vulnerabilities inherent in any communist regime, the greatest danger to China’s future prosperity is its
huge need for energy, especially electricity. According to an International Energy Agency estimate, demand for electricity in
China will grow at an average annual rate of 4.8% from 2003 and 2025. At some point within the next twenty or thirty years
China will face an energy crisis for which it will be almost certainly unprepared. Only a new source of electrical energy
will insure that such a nightmare never happens. China is already experiencing shortages. The Yangtze Delta region,
which includes Shanghai and the provinces of Jiangsu and Zhijiang and contributes almost 20% of China’s GDP, faced
capacity shortages of four to five gigawatts during peak summer demand in 2003. In spite of a furious effort to develop
new power sources, including dam building and new coal-fired power plants, China’s economic growth is outstripping
its capacity to generate the terawatts needed to keep it going. While China may turn to widespread use of nuclear power
plants, the Communist Party leadership is certainly aware of the role that glasnost and the Chernobyl disaster played in the
downfall of another Communist superpower. Thus, China may be reluctant to rely heavily on nuclear power plants, at least not
without strong safety measures, thus making them more expensive and more time consuming to build. Wind power and
terrestrial solar power will not be able to contribute much to meeting China’s demand and certainly not without
government subsidies which a relatively poor nation such as China will be reluctant to provide. The crisis may come
sooner if, due to a combination of internal and external pressures, the Chinese are forced to limit the use of coal and similar
fuels. At that point their economic growth would stall and they would face a massive recession. Only a new source of
electrical energy will insure that such a nightmare never happens. The global repercussions would be disastrous. In the near
term the only new source of electric power that can hope to generate enough clean energy to satisfy China’s mid- to
long-term needs is space based solar power. The capital costs for such systems are gigantic, but when compared with both
future power demands and considering the less-than-peaceful alternative scenarios, space solar power looks like a
bargain.

13
FILE NAME
DDI 2008 <CM>
Your Name

SBSP is key to avoid energy wars

The Space Review, Taylor Dinerman, an author and journalist, 10/22/2007, “China, the US, and space solar power”,
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/985/1, BB,
If the US were to invest in space-based solar power it would not be alone. The Japanese have spent considerable sums over
the years on this technology and other nations will seek the same advantages described in the NSSO study. America’s space
policy makers should, at this stage, not be looking for international partners, but instead should opt for a high level of
international transparency. Information about planned demonstration projects, particularly ones on the ISS, should be public
and easily accessible. Experts and leaders from NASA and from the Energy and Commerce departments should brief all of the
major spacefaring nations, including China. Our world’s civilization is going to need all the energy it can get, especially in
about fifty years when China, India, and other rising powers find their populations demanding lifestyles comparable to
those they now see the West enjoying. Clean solar power from space is the most promising of large-scale alternatives.
Other sources such as nuclear, wind, or terrestrial solar will be useful, but they are limited by both physics and politics.
Only space solar power can be delivered in amounts large enough to satisfy the needs of these nations. As a matter of US
national security it is imperative that this country be able to fulfill that worldwide demand. Avoiding a large-scale
future war over energy is in everyone’s interest.

14
FILE NAME
DDI 2008 <CM>
Your Name

Space Weapons key to Heg

America must lead in space weapons race—Key to heg
Michael Krepon with Christopher Clary, Co-founder of the Henry L. Stimson Center and the author or editor of eleven books and
over 350 articles. Prior to co-founding the Stimson Center, Krepon worked at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the US
Arms Control and Disarmament Agency during the Carter administration, and in the US House of Representatives, Research Assistant
for the Weaponization of Space Project at the Stimson Center., 2003,“Space Assurance or Space Dominance?”,
http://www.stimson.org/wos/pdf/spacefront.pdf, BB
If war-fighting in or from space is inevitable, it then follows that the United States should have the panoply of military
capabilities not just to deter warfare in the heavens, but also to actively defend satellites in orbit that are essential for
the conduct of U.S. military operations on the ground. “Space control,” however, is a far more demanding pursuit. It
requires the protection of satellites against attacks in space, as well as the ability to carry out offensive strikes, whether
from platforms orbiting the earth or from those on the ground, sea, and air. Moreover, if the weaponization of space is a
virtual certainty, it also follows that arms control efforts, whether broadly or narrowly defined, to foreclose this
competition are without merit. If such a competition is foreordained, America should compete to win.

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FILE NAME
DDI 2008 <CM>
Your Name

SPS inevitable
Taylor Dinerman, author and journalist based in New York City, Space Review, 7/16/2007, “Solar power satellites and space
radar”, http://www.thespacereview.com/article/910/1, BB
Space solar power is, in the long run, inevitable. The Earth’s economy is going to need so much extra power over the next
few decades that every new system that can be shown to be viable will be developed. If the US were to develop space solar
power for military applications it would give the US civilian industry a big head start. As long as the military requirements
are legitimate, there is no reason why this cannot be made into a win-win outcome.

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FILE NAME
DDI 2008 <CM>
Your Name

SPS→NASA Backlash
Pushing SPS on NASA collapses the space program—outside NASA’s goal
Taylor Dinerman, author and journalist based in New York City, The Space Review, May 19, 2008, “NASA and space solar
power”, http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1130/1
NASA has good reason to be afraid that the Congress or maybe even the White House will give them a mandate to work
on space solar power at a time when the agency’s budget is even tighter than usual and when everything that can be
safely cut has been cut. This includes almost all technology development programs that are not directly tied to the Exploration
Missions System Directorate’s Project Constellation. Not only that, the management talent inside the organization is
similarly under stress. Adding a new program might bring down the US civil space program like a house of cards. In
the mid-1990s, urged on by the new chairman of the House Science Committee’s space subcommittee, Dana Rohrabacher (R-
CA), NASA did conduct a so-called “Fresh Look” study of space solar power. According to John Mankins, one of the
world’s greatest authorities on space solar power, “Several innovative concepts were defined and a variety of new
technology applications considered including solid state microwave transmitters, extremely large tension stabilized structures
(both tether and inflatable structures), and autonomously self assembling systems using advanced in-space computing
systems.” Concluding his 2003 paper on the study, Mankins wrote: The economic viability of such systems depends, of
course, on many factors and the successful development of various new technologies—not least of which is the availability of
exceptionally low cost access to space. However the same can be said of many other advanced power technologies options.
There was no follow-up to this study, partly because of a lack of urgency in the era of cheap energy that existed a
decade ago and also because NASA did not, and does not today, see itself as an auxiliary to the Department of Energy.
NASA does science and exploration and not much else. Along with its contractors it can develop new technologies that
apply directly to those two missions, but outside of that it will resist being forced to spend money on projects that it does
not see as falling within those two missions.

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FILE NAME
DDI 2008 <CM>
Your Name

SPS revitalizes NASA

SPS is key to revitalize NASA
Joseph N. Pelton, Director, Space & Advanced Communications Research Institute, George Washington University, 16 October
2006, “Revitalizing NASA? A five-point plan”, BB
The key here would be a series of public–private partnerships. This restructuring of the US space program would leave
operational programs and near-term technology to entrepreneurs and the aerospace industry. It would revamp NASA
into a true longer-range R&D organization suited to 21st century needs. There would be active encouragement of small
entrepreneurial aerospace entities through ‘challenge prizes’ (like the Ansari X-Prize), through small business administration
incentives, or other appropriate ways to stimulate ‘geniuses’ to find new ways to think ‘outside the box’. This might be done by
further extending the scope of the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) and expanding its work in areas such
as space solar power systems, environmental applications, etc. This ‘new NASA’, in partnership with industry teams,
would address issues such as how to use robots, new launch technology and new space applications to achieve innovative
goals. The ‘new NASA’ would have the mandate, the will and the opportunity to truly address longer-range objectives
covering the next 3050 years, yet also to attack issues relevant to the man or woman in the street today.

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