Scott Lowther wrote:
Ool wrote:
SPSs, if they ever become possible and economical one day, aren't so
much about ensuring America's continued supply of cheap energy.
They're about enabling the rest of the world to live in the same kind
of abundance, energy-wise, as so far only the industrialized world
could.

Errrr.... how would, say, Nepal, Chad or Paraguay build SPS systems?

I would presume that they could simply buy one off the
open market. Or buy old ones in orbit which are being
replaced by newer ones, but are still functional. Or
they could just buy power from (then) existing systems.

Not that I necessarily think SPS is feasible even in
the long term, but if it becomes big enough to supply
the energy needs of the first world then it can almost
certainly supply the energy needs of developing nations
as well.