Trough net

I've just discovered that electrodynamic propulsion is expected to be approx. 90% efficient, based on JPL Tethers in Space Handbook 3rd Ed. Basically, my ARMXER Orbital Skyhook Infrastructure might increase the number of launches annually by 5000-fold better than the space shuttle. At the same time it reduces the cost per kilogram by a factor of 160. This leads to an overall increase in infrastructure cost of 30-fold. Therefore investors will be timid unless only 1-in-30 launch opportunities are utilized, together with energy storage technology, to minimize the amount of solar powerplant infrastructure. This isn't really preferable to me, because it automatically cripples its potential to expand.

This unbalanced cycle-cost-reduction / frequency-increase is what will scare investors away. But my geometrically increasing deployment strategy, to achieve 1% annual ridership worldwide, shows without question that revenues from ticket sales are the best way to BOTH compensate for the overall cost increase, AND scale it up. In fact the latter is absolutely impossible without this revenue source.

I'm feeling pretty good about it.