programmes funded by governments in Western Europe, North America and Japan are, in fact, applicable for SPS research and would improve our knowledge about the technical feasibility of the SPS, this 10% would represent an amount that is more than twice that which is directly spent in total on terrestrial solar energy by governments in the countries. INSTITUTIONAL PROBLEMS The SPS has attracted comparatively little attention in Europe outside the “space community" to date and very little is known about the findings of the SPS studies. European studies are necessary to evaluate more precisely the concept’s potential interest to Europe as an energy source, to identify more clearly its impact in terms of specific European economic, technical and social constraints, and to assess Europe's role in a possible future joint venture with other countries (5). A specific European problem (as indicated in Fig. 7) is the lack of a European equivalent to the Department of Energy in the USA, which could coordinate and fund studies on aspects of the SPS which are not purely technical. For their space activities the Western European countries have established a European Space Agency as a focal point and as a coordinator. It must be emphasised, however, that SPS specific studies cannot really be justified in the framework of the European space programmes. ESA on its own can and will in the future develop certain technologies which could be of importance for an SPS but only to the extent that these technologies will be needed within other future European space activities (6). Further, ESA will continue to follow the SPS applicable R&D and
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