A new direction for practical space exploration was proposed by the inventor "Nikolay Agapov". Unlike well-known promising concepts, such as the extraction of helium-3 on the Moon or space tourism, the scenario for the development of the space industry, published on the website of the International Philosophical and Cosmological Society, does not require inaccessible technologies or unaffordable financial costs, but is able to attract private investment in the development of space industry and the development of extraterrestrial resources.
The emergence of a concept capable of mobilizing the resources of the world economy for space exploration makes it possible to move from the phase of space exploration to its large-scale practical exploration. The main difference between the development scenario proposed by the author is that the stake in it is made not on new technologies, but on new methods of coordinating activities, which makes its implementation more accessible, both in technical terms and in terms of funding.
The industrial space system should be based on the Industrial Space Group, which serves as a means of developing and servicing near-Earth satellites. The satellite industry is already an established segment of practical space exploration, with a total turnover of about $ 200 billion, and continues to actively develop. But satellites, in fact, are automata, strongly tied to the service sector, they are economically beneficial, but cannot serve as a means of further space exploration. In addition, automata break down in space, and the more complex they become, the more expensive the risk of losing them from technical malfunctions becomes, the failure of some short-lived systems, and reduces their service life. Maintenance and repair of satellites in space requires the presence of people and the availability of appropriate infrastructure. The satellite industry is a logical continuation of the development of commercial space exploration, from satellites in low-Earth orbit to human space exploration. The industrial constellation includes several projects of space transport systems, a resource base on the Moon and a commercial orbital station that serves as a transport center and a support base in near-earth space.
As the main means of launching the payload into orbit, it is proposed to use a transport system consisting of a specialized simplified light carrier that plays the role of a cheap "Workhorse" rocket - "Pony". And the orbital station, which plays the role of the transport and assembly center of the "Cosmoport".
A specialized carrier - a pony with simplified motors and control systems, has a low load capacity, but it is simple and cheap, its production can be put on stream at low cost. Due to the limited carrying capacity, the Pony must deliver satellites to the spaceport in parts, for subsequent assembly and transfer to working orbits.
The Pony-Spaceport system is based on simple and proven technologies, but it is capable of providing cargo traffic from Earth to orbit at low costs and creates a solid basis for the commercialization of manned space exploration. The operation of this system will significantly reduce the cost of launching, up to $ 1000 per kilogram of payload, against 3, 5, thousand, typical for the cheapest traditional carriers.
From the empty plastic tanks of the Pony rockets, organic fuel can be obtained at the spaceport, creating the basis for one of the first commercial production in orbit.
Orbital transport systems should be based on reusable space tugs, with less powerful, but more economical plasma electric jet engines, powered by solar generators. The efficiency of plasma orbital tugs allows them to transport satellites between working orbits and the spaceport, linking the entire near-earth constellation into a single system. They also allow the installation of permanent transport bridges to the moon and other planets, which is practically unattainable using traditional chemical rockets. The transition to reusable orbital tugs will allow you to move freely in outer space and greatly reduce the cost of flights between orbits.
One of the features of plasma engines is their multi-fuel capacity, they are able to consume any available “working fluid”, both components of traditional rocket fuel, neutral liquids such as water or liquid oxygen, and solids in the form of fine powder.
The main fuel for orbital tugs, according to the author, should be powdered lunar soil produced at the lunar fuel base. The production of powdered fuel on the moon requires significantly less costs than liquid substances. "Mineral dust", in addition to being easy to manufacture, has a number of other advantages over liquid fuels, such as high density and storage stability. It does not boil in a vacuum, easily withstands temperature drops from absolute zero to hundreds of degrees, its storage in space does not require special conditions.
To launch the fuel powder into orbit from the lunar surface, it is proposed to use a powerful mechanical catapult - the "lunar sling", which is a rotor similar to a helicopter, but with kilometer-long ribbons made of kevlar or carbon fiber instead of blades. Low gravity and the absence of an atmosphere on the moon make it possible to use mechanical devices instead of the usual jet engines.
The lunar slingshot does not require any fuel costs at all, but it makes it possible to ensure the delivery of raw materials into orbit in industrial volumes, reducing the cost of delivering materials into space from the Moon to purely symbolic ones compared to launching from Earth.
Lunar soil can be used not only as fuel for plasma engines, but also as raw materials for processing into liquid oxygen, ceramic and metal products in orbital production centers.
The cost of creating a powder raw material base on the Moon is within 10 billion dollars, which does not go beyond the possibilities of investors, but the available lunar resources will significantly reduce the cost of orbital transport and create the basis for the development of various industries in orbit. The commercial lunar resource base provides an economic justification for human activities on the moon and its further industrial colonization.
Orbital stations must perform many different functions, serving as transport centers, bases for orbital tugs, for various types of assembly, technological or production activities, playing the role of support bases for human activities in near-earth space.
The entire near-Earth transport operational system should work to service commercial orbiters, returning the investment in it in the form of a decrease in the cost of space services.
The activities of the industrial constellation make it possible to significantly reduce the cost of launching satellites and increase their service life, in fact, to obsolescence.
In addition, it creates opportunities for the development of new projects, such as low-orbit communications satellites with high-area lattice antennas capable of receiving cell phone calls and broadcasting to personal television and radio receivers, making space information services inexpensive and ubiquitous by attracting space tens of billions of dollars of new investment.
Space solar power plants, consisting of ultra-light, film, large-area concentrating mirrors and industrial power generators, capable of forming the basis of a clean and fuel-free global energy system of the future, increasing the turnover of the space group to hundreds of billions and trillions of dollars and turning it into one of the world's leading industries.
The development of astronautics according to the proposed industrial scenario makes it possible to create a strong space constellation, including a permanent transport infrastructure, lunar and orbital industrial centers in the future for the next few decades. With such a cosmic grouping, humanity will be able to begin active exploration of space and nearby planets, which will entail the transition of human civilization to the cosmic level from the planetary one.
The flights of the first rockets made outer space accessible, but after 50 years of development of astronautics, the space expansion of mankind is still perceived as futuristic fiction. The scientific community is of the opinion that the main obstacles to the colonization of space are the high cost of space projects and the insufficient level of technology for this. But Agapov's development scenario makes space exploration economically feasible and affordable for modern investors, making it possible to begin its colonization in the near future.
According to the IFCO
