A sensitivity analysis shows the great dependency of the transportation costs of both DILETS (Direct Lunar Earth Transportation System) and EXLETS (Extended Lunar Earth Transportation System) on the specific transportation, on the costs of the NEPTUNE carrier system, and, to a lesser degree on the costs of a man year installation. It is shown that the selection of one of the two transportation systems depends on the transportation requirements. If, for instance, the payload transportation on the distance Moon-Earth is dominated by raw material exploitation and industrial production on the moon for the terrestrial world market, the DILETS system is to be chosen, on account of its lower specific transportation costs. Conversely, the EXLETS system is to be selected for the exploitation of a large cislunar infrastructure with lunar material and products fabricated on the Moon in Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO), Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and Lunar Orbit (LO), for instance for the construction of a great orbital solar power plant in GEO.
Frage der Wirtschaftlichkeit des Importes Extraterrestrischer Rohstoffe (Question of an Efficient Space Transportation System for Extraterrestrial Materials)
1990
85 pages
Report
No indication
English