At the risk of being called troll-bait, I'm distilling this thread down to its
essentials and I find some merit here.

1) Ground-based lasers can make for low cost mono-propellant heavy-lift launchers.

Seems logical, worth pursuing in and of itself as a research program with low
initial investment but potential high payback.

2) Once item #1 is achieved, use it to produce a high-value publicly
subsidized orbital communications program.

Well maybe, unclear how effectively this competes on a cost basis to
terrestrial alternatives. This has been the bane of space-based ISPs in the
past. It requires orders of magnitude reduction in cost to LEO coupled with
infrastructure to provide timely and low cost system upgrades. Something that
is missing in the current space ISP equation.

3) Once item #2 is achieved, use the capital as the seed capital to boot strap
a privately financed space-based power system.

Again the devil is in the details. Cost vs terrestrial alternatives is the
primary impediment that come to mind.

4) Once item #3 is achieved, use the capital to boot strap a laser power
system for interplanetary operations.

A stretch. Mook has yet to convince me the technology exists without serious
materials science and space ops breakthroughs that you can't just throw money
at to solve. It might be achievable but the timescale seems to be to be in
decades to half centuries to achieve, with an industrial/scientific commitment
far beyond what we see today, including internationally. It's not just around
the corner, nor IMO inevitable even if item #3 is fully implemented.

5) Profit$!!!

Cost$!!!

At least this is a plan.

Dave