Who should be the first customers for space-based solar power?
U.S. Department of Defense would make a great early adopter / first customer for space-based solar power. At least one estimate from the war in Iraq claim that the totally burdened cost to deliver a of gallon of fuel to the troops is between $20 – $80. That may seem very high until it is compared with the cost in human life. Many soldiers have been killed or injured when their fuel convoys were attacked en route. A portable rectenna receiving power beamed directly from a solar power satellite could eliminate the need for most of those fuel convoys. Worldwide disaster relief efforts are another area where space-based solar power might first be used. After Katrina, if portable rectennas could have been helicoptered in to provide temporary power to local grids, if they were still intact or using wireless power transmission if they weren’t operational, mobile hospital units, food banks, pumping stations and many other critical disaster relief services could have been up and running much so
