Robber Barons in Space

--- "victoriatangoman victoriatangoman@...

> > 1) Develop a controlling market share on the production of solar
> > cells and panels.

> I'm not sure what you mean by "developing" controlling market
> share?
> Can this be achieved by a standards setting body? That seems to me
> to be the most easily achievable route, but it raises the question
> of penalties for non-compliance? Is such a penalty simply economic
> cost of developing competing standards and not being able to
> participate in future solar panel upgrades compared to your
> competitors.

I believe that I indicated that it could be attempted by a standard
setting body. The penalty you describe would be the intent. But, it
would be more effective if the market were monopolized by a single
entity. This way, standards would essentially be enforced by fiat.
This is what I meant by developing controlling market share. I'm not
sure if it's possible... As you said, "Devil is in the Details".

The penalty you state would be imposed if a majority of companies
(read market share) adopted the standards imposed by the standard
setting body. This requires a heavy hitting group of professionals
to pull this off.

Or, a group of companies comprising a majority market share could
form a conglomerate. They cannot legally garner more than 80% market
share, but they could get close enough to wield the necessary power.
(Maybe?)

Of course, there's the old-fashioned way -- acquisition.

Might be other ways...

> > 4) Begin satellite power upgrading.
>
> I'd like to offer up some points to consider. First off, as the
> solar panel starts to degrade from exposure to the van allen
> radiation belts, so to will the onboard electronics, n'est pas?

Well, I would expect the on-board electronics to be shielded better
than the solar panels. But, as Mr. Zelnio has already pointed out,
perhaps solar panels are not the best product for this model.

> Secondly, to replace degraded solar panels on the satellites will
> require launching those satellites with the new standard panels
> already attached. Thus, the first replacements will take place
> 10-15 years in the future. No existing satellites will will be able
> to accomodate the new connection fittings.

You are absolutely right. However, note that the "business" part of
the model doesn't depend on step for for profit. Steps 1-3 describe
a "typical" (albeit, large) solar panel manufacturer. This is a
proven business that could survive for the 15 requisite years. Then,
it could begin to expand into the solar panel replacement biz. Yes?

> > 5) Expand
> >
> > From here, it becomes financially viable to look for resources
> > that are already outside the gravity well.
>
> That's assuming this venture doesn't perform similarly to the
> Iridium satellite network.

Well, of course. All business plans make that assumption.

> > For, if we can manufacture the solar panels in orbit,
> > satellites can be launched without panels.
>
> True, they can, but will they? Can it be cost effective?

A point for further investigation. But, not necessary at this point.
Except maybe ball-park stuff.

> > It remains to devise a way of extracting raw materials from
> > a non-terrestrial source and using them
> > in the manufacture of solar panels. Even if, first all we get is
> > silicon (shipping the balance up from earth.)
>
> I would appreciate if you could flesh this section out some more. I
> fear the devil is in the details. Where will the silicon come from?

Frankly, I think that the beauty of this plan is that we don't have
to worry about the details just yet. The business plan is not
dependent on step 5. If step 5 never happens, you still have a
legitimate business. And, over the 15 years mentioned above, the
company can research the answers to the questions below with no fear
from the shareholders. We have stated our goals up front. We are
legitimately pursuing stated goals.

> How will be find it, package it, transport it, refine it, where
> will the energy for the refining come from, where will the fuel and

> oxidizer for transport come from, where will the means to produce
> and transmit that energy come from, where will the silicon crystal
> growing apparatus come from, how will it be operated, where will
> the crystals be cut and polished, how will the panels be
> manufactured, and so on.

These are all good questions that I don't think need to be answered
in the business plan. This is the research arm of the business.
(Another reason for creating a company with large market share. It
takes bucks to do this kind of research. The bigger you are, the
more you can spend.)

Make sense?

Chris.