0191-9067/81/040325-03$02.00/0 Copyright ® 1981 SUNSAT Energy Council EDITORIAL PETER E. GLASER Arthur D. Little, Inc. Acorn Park Cambridge, Massachusetts 02140, USA “It sounds like science fiction . . is the introductory statement of the July 2, 1981 News Release of the National Research Council (NRC) which heralded the publication of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) report “Electric Power from Orbit: A Critique of a Satellite Power System,” by the Committee on Satellite Power Systems (SPS) of the NRC. This statement hardly creates an unbiased impression for discussions of the SPS concept which are necessary to clarify the potential of alternative energy conversion technologies and the role of each of these technologies in meeting the global energy challenges faced by both developed and developing countries in the 21st century. The purpose of the NRC Committee was to: • Identify critical scientific and technical issues affecting the SPS concept. • Identify gaps in the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and NASA SPS Program. • Examine the results of the SPS program. The NAS report addresses the salient technical, economic, environmental and societal issues but arrives at conclusions which are not in accord with the knowledge gained in the DOE/NASA SPS program and which do not follow from the statements in the report itself. The following quotations from the NAS report pertaining to the DOE/NASA program, SPS reference system, the forecasts of technology advancement and the alternative energy conversion technologies indicate that the report can be interpreted in ways which would lead to a more positive view of the SPS concept and perceptions regarding its overall feasibility. The NAS report concludes that DOE and NASA performed a thorough study of the SPS concept, and that the study provides a “tremendous amount of information useful for policy making.” The major conclusion of the report, however, is that “. . . no funds should be committed during the next decade to pursue the development of an SPS.” Since the DOE/NASA program outlines a research program designed to obtain information on technical, economic, environmental, and societal issues, the clarification of these issues is a prerequisite to a decision regarding the development of the SPS. The report does acknowledge that ”... some type of SPS would be technically possible if costs were not a consideration,” and admits that “Fusion — has yet to be shown to be technologically feasible.” The NAS report focuses on the SPS reference system which was evolved by NASA as a “tool for inquiry,” rather than a design for an SPS which would actually be constructed. Furthermore, the NASA SPS reference scenario, which assumed
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