Talk:Eddy Current Brake to Orbit

What needs to happen to bring orbiting spaceports into reality

There are so many things needed that it is hard to say when and if the spaceports will be produced.

• More ground truth is needed on the mineral content of the lunar regolith. The processing qualities of the particular minerals need to be better known. The soil mechanics in various places need to be known. This means probes landed on Luna that will operate for a couple of years or more each. The means of producing shelters from the two weeks excessive sunshine and two weeks cold with no sunshine deserve a special dedicated article, when I or anyone else gets around to it. My contribution would be in the line of concepts that are possible rather than techniques that have been intelligently chosen from a number of tested competing techniques.
• When people better know the lay of the land, the details of industrial processes needed for self replicating industry can be more nearly specified. If anyone feels capable of an article on this topic, they are welcome to try.
• When we have some idea of the processes, there will be a better idea of the amount of freight of industrial equipment that needs to be sent to Luna. Then the transportation system from Earth's surface to Luna's can be intelligently designed. The launch to low Earth orbit, the inter-orbit transfer system from low Earth orbit to low lunar orbit (I guess a reusabel electric thrust rocket tug), the one way vehicle from low lunar orbit to lunar surface.
• Detailed knowledge of processes will also allow an estimation of the time that it will take to begin producing products for export and completing a lunar surface to low lunar orbit system. A few candidate systems can be considered.
• After producing product and a system for launching from lunar surface to orbit, the actual production of Space Based Solar Power satellite will be rather straight forward engineering estimation. Although I am not capable of such, I know that the necessary expertise can be hired when needed.
• The uncertainty of the time and expense for the program as a whole causes a large part of the current difficulty of getting appropriation of money for the plan as a whole, or just the start of the plan which can be sold as exploration. - Farred 21:20, 22 June 2014 (UTC)