Fig. 16. Alternative orbital configurations. Mathematical Sciences Northwest (MSNW) has investigated three indirect, solar pumped laser concepts (9): a CO2 mixing gas laser (MSNW found this option too heavy and complex to be attractive), a static (i.e., the lasant is nonflowing; only the coolant is circulated) CO2 laser, and a flowing-CO system. An attractive feature of the MSNW static CO2 system is that it requires very little conversion of solar energy into electrical power: no electricity is needed for pumping the lasant and very little for maintaining coolant flow (none is required if heat pipes are used). However, there are three problems. The large number of laser tubes (nearly 106 individual tubes for 500 MW output to the busbar) precludes phaselocking. Second, it may be difficult to find laser tube materials that can withstand the temperatures inside the blackbody cavity. Third, the small diameters (—4 cm) of the laser tubes coupled with the fact that there are too many tubes for phase-locking,
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