Stephen D. Covey
RamblingsOnTheFutureOfHumanity.blogspot.com

 Assumptions
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Project Phases
1.
2.
Capture 99942 Apophis into Earth orbit
Launch mining & manufacturing tools
3.
4.
5.
6.
Launch construction shacks & workers
Construct & deploy Solar Power Satellites
Construct a worker/colonist habitat
Repeat 4 & 5 with remaining asteroid resources
Return On Investment
Areas for Research & Development
Summary

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Capture an Asteroid into LEO: 99942 Apophis
Timeframe:
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Project start in 2027,
Launch capture mission in early 2028,
Orbit capture April 2030
Mining mission starts 2030
SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy launch vehicle
Pricing in 2011 dollars
Worker launch costs $24M -> $1M/person
Not included in budgets (addressed later):
 In-space worker salaries
 Most R&D costs
Sales of energy funds everything

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The capture mission begins 2027:
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 Assemble tugship in LEO
Intercept injection via lunar slingshot Oct-2027
5 months to intercept
10 months of thrust to change Apophis orbit
3 month coast
Earth slingshot - April 13, 2029
12 month coast
Lunar slingshot & drop into Earth orbit, Apr-2030
Capture mission duration 30+ months

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Launch into LEO:
 Core ship (crew quarters, life support, 50 t)
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Fuel/thruster assemblies (100 t)
Solar panels (200m, 12 megawatts, 100 t)
Total equipment: $1.5B, 250 tons
5 launches ($600M)
Launch assembly crew & construction shack:
$1.6B (with training, tools, supplies, 2 launches)
Assemble (12-18 person-months)
Launch mission crew & supplies: 1 launch @
$100M
Total capture: $3.8B

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Solar power generator: 1 launch, $200M
Mining facilities: 2 launches, $400M
Solar smelter, gas refining, metals: 5 launches, $1B
Steel production: 5 launches, $1B
Rolling mill: 3 launches, $600M
Finished metal product plant: 2 launches, $400M
Silicon refinery, solar panel manufacturing (3 launches, $600M)
Slag processing & handling: (1 launch, $200M)
Total estimate: $4.4B equipment & 22 launches spanning 2030-2031

Year Workers Steel
Production
Tons/Day
SPS
Builds /
Year
2030 36 Setup
Per
Worker
Cost
$33M
Total Cost
To Date
$9.4B
2031 500
2032 1500
100
200
Setup
1
$10M
$5M
$14.4B
$19.6B
2033 3500
2034 7500
2035
400
800
800
2
4
8
$2.5M
$1M
$25.0B
$29.8B

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Solar panels (16 square kilometers)
Steel support structures
Microwave transmitting antenna (1 km)
Microwave transmitter (from Earth)
Protective shield
Total mass 25,000 tons

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Build near asteroid in HEO
Deploy into GEO (2 km/s)
Deployment fuel (1,000 tons)
Install microwave transmitter launched from Earth
Construct ground receiving station
 10+ km rectenna
 $1 B (born by receiving electric utility)

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100 meter radius, 130 meter wide cylinder
Spinning at 3 rpm
10 t/m 2 slag shield (1.6 Mt)
1-inch thick steel shell (28 kt)
126 kt of interior steel structures
Solar Power (6kw/person, 50 Mw total)
Capacity 8,000 workers

 Lots of room (square feet):
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5,500,000 agricultural:
2,500,000 residential (300 sf/person)
1,500,000 office, light industrial, retail
1,000,000 storage & overhead
50x130 meter core zero-G cylinder for research & industry
12 acre cylindrical park (100x250 meters)

REPEAT UNTIL RESOURCES EXHAUSTED
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 8 Year Plan
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1 habitat for 8,000 people
15 five-gigawatt solar power satellites
Over 90% of Apophis remains
Continue Building 8 SPSs/Year
Global Demand: 2 Tw (400 SPSs)
More (& Larger) Habitats
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Near GEO
LEO
Mars?

Year
2027
2030
2033
2034
2035
2036
2037+
Event Expense Revenue Cash Flow
(Sales of
Electricity)
Launch $3.8B
M&M $5.6B
$3.8B
$9.4B
1 st SPS
3 SPSs
$15.6B
$4.8B
7 SPSs $1.6B
15 SPSs $0
$1.3B
$3.9B
$9.1B
$19.5B
$19.5B
$23.7B
$24.6B
$17.1B
$0.8B
$20.3B
Cash Flow
(Sales of
SPSs)
$3.8B
$9.4B
$14.6B
$5.2B
$43.6B
$82.0B
+$40 B/yr

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Heavy lift (or super heavy lift) launch vehicles
Space taxies / trucks (tugships)
Long-term life support
Zero-G mining, smelting, refining, manufacturing
Manufacturing solar panels
High-efficiency multi-gigawatt microwave transmitters / receivers
Large-scale in-space construction techniques
(of SPS and habitats) with limited resources

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2036: Breakeven ($25B peak outflow)
2037: $19.5B/year Profits (10% Apophis)
2053: (assuming +8 SPS/year)
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150 SPSs deployed
$195B/year revenue
12 orbital habitats; 100,000 person capacity
The asteroid Apophis is only a memory
But there are more asteroids out there!

RamblingsOnTheFutureOfHumanity
.com
www.StephenDCovey.com
StephenDCovey@galleries.com