3) Public outreach. SSP proponents must build public confidence in the technology, and actively participate in the risk/benefit decision-making that will determine its commercial viability. Creating Markets for Space Power The concept of creating a market - as distinct from serving a preexisting one - has direct implications for those concerned with commercializing power from space. As with many large-scale innovations, technology has arguably outrun public awareness and acceptance. Further, the "customer” has yet to be clearly defined, with the result that marketing efforts necessarily lack focus. Finally, the technical community must recognize that it can - indeed, must - play an active and initiative role in bringing a viable market into being. The Role of the Technical Communitv Each of the components of market demand offers the technical community the opportunity to participate, and to shape the end result. In considering these components - need, safety, benefits, value, and means- technical experts should apply the same discipline and creativity that characterizes their research and development efforts. For each component, the status quo should be objectively assessed, then analyzed for opportunity. Where a given characteristic is latent, or not in evidence at all, the next step should be to consider if - and how—it might be stimulated, e.g.: Need for space solar power should be more closely defined and documented. This involves probing energy markets more deeply and understanding the current strengths and limitations of existing technologies. It also means challenging existing projections concerning usage, and conventional wisdom concerning public acceptance. A concerted effort to consolidate, evaluate, and interpret existing research would be an invaluable first step toward a meaningfill assessment of need. Moreover, as a second step, a focused needs assessment would help to define inherent benefits (social, monetary, or environmental) against competing technologies -- from the customer's point of view. Safety of alternative technologies must be thoroughly demonstrated. In the case of wireless power transmission (WPT), public safety issues relate to health effects arising from both acute and chronic exposure. While the technical community for the most part agrees that WPT is essentially safe, there are no conclusive data concerning long-term effects on biota. Given the prevailing climate of extreme skepticism and close attention to environmental and health effects, it is reasonable to expect that until such data are compiled and assessed, WPT cannot win broad public acceptance - in the U.S., at least. This suggests strongly that the technical community should seek out opportunities to study and document the health effects of chronic, low-level microwave exposure. For example, point-to-point, terrestrial demonstration projects offer such an opportunity, and their design should integrate a health-effects component.
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