Financing A Private Space Program

Financing a Private Space Program

In the late seventies I was a big fan of the O'Neill torus space
settlement portrayed in NASA Design Study SP-413. In fact, I still have
a copy of that study and look it over from time to time.

Upon a little reflection, it becomes apparent that similar settlements
can be built on Earth. Placing them on land is obvious but they could
also be sited on large bodies of water. This design would look like an
enormous bicycle wheel, one mile in outside diameter, lying on its side.
It could be located near the equator where large amounts of electrical
power can be generated from an OTEC process that uses the temperature
difference between hot surface water and deeper cold water. This process
would also create drinking water, provide nutrients for fish farming,
extract minerals from sea water, and provide cold water for air
conditioning. By including provisions for agriculture, this floating
city could support its citizens in a self sufficient and environmentally
benign manner. If a submarine nuclear power plant is used to provide
power, a floating city of this design could be sited at a location
remote from OTEC sources.

The width and height of the torus could be adjusted so as to provide
housing for 100,000 people in an arrangement patterned after the
pre-engineered City called "Old Man River" as introduced in Buckminster
Fuller's 1981 book Critical Path.

As a benchmark, there is a city at sea on the drawing board (see
www.freedomship.com ) that is slightly
larger in terms of displacement than the above concept.

A floating city in OTEC waters near the equator might work if it were
built and promoted as an R&R center catering to the rich and famous. As
another option, it might be possible to locate it several miles off of
the Southern California coast in international waters and use a
submarine nuclear power plant for its power source.

The lion's share of the construction budget would be derived from ten
thousand permanent residences selling for an average price in the
neighborhood of one million dollars and the remainder would come from
retail, hotel, restaurant, entertainment, and gambling spaces purchased
by Fortune 500 companies. The city would be incorporated as a for profit
company with a provision in its Bylaws requiring it to donate 10% of its
earnings to space research and development. If the first city works it
could be replicated so as to meet demand and, hopefully, eventually
serve as a multi-billion dollar annual funding source for a private
space program.

I am close to retirement and am making some early preparations for that
time by thinking about setting up a nonprofit venture tentatively called
The Phoenix Development Society. I am posting some early thoughts on
this and other of its projects to a Yahoo Group I started at

If you should happen to pay that site a visit I should forewarn you that
I came up with this idea less than two months ago so it is still very,
very early in the startup process and there are only seven posts to
read.

Best regards,

Leon Neihouse