ABSTRACT
Solares is a space-terrestrial solar energy system consisting of a set of orbiting mirrors that would provide nearly continuous reflected sunlight to a world-distributed set of solar conversion sites. The natural storage processes for solar energy have, over the eons, produced an inexpensive supply of fossil fuels which has prevented the economic acceptability of direct solar energy use. Of critical importance to minimization of the space cost component of solares is to reduce the mass which, must be placed into orbit. A number of studies have shown that to install systems in the mass range needed for solares, it is an economic necessity to use a new generation of launch vehicles of the heavy lift class. A unique property of the solares system is its potential to deliver energy in a form suitable to many direct uses and with the economic advantage associated with continuity and high average energy density.
