The Problem
The stellar booster system must start from orbital satellites (see AP3.2 THE ORBITAL ENERGY SUPPLY SYSTEM-this site). It will depend on a pellet based momentum beam as with the orbital satellite system, but a fixed electro-magnetic driver cannot obtain the speeds needed for interstellar travel, so the pellets needed for the stellar drive must also be driven by an on board ion drive to get the specific impulse needed to get near light speed. The energy source needed to fuel the ion drive must be nuclear. A fission energy source using plutonium is the most practical presently. Now the plutonium used to fuel the pellets of the stellar drive is best produced in reactors on orbit for safety and political purposes. Also, the stellar drive platforms used for the stellar momentum beam require a steady, un-obscured view of the star that is the target for the stellar probe, which can only be obtained on orbit. Now the orbital booster platform must compensate for the reaction of the electromagnetic drive firing the pellets on the satellite position. Otherwise, the reaction would cause the satellite to drift from its stable synchronous or solar orbital position. Finally, the stellar momentum beam pellets and other supplies must be passed up to the stellar drive satellites from the manufacturing points on earth. This energy and pellet supply system will be called the Stellar Energy Supply System or SESS. The problem is how is this system be constructed?
The Solution
The launch platform for a star ship must be on satellites to ensure an unobstructed line of sight for the momentum beam to the star ship going in the direction of any star. This means that the recoil from the electromagnetic drive for the pellets must be corrected for on the satellite. To do this, a combination of a chemical rocket and an ion drive will be required. An ion drive alone cannot provide enough thrust. Thus rocket fuel (essentially diesel fuel) and oxygen must be brought up from the earth to the satellites.
The pellets for the stellar drive system are more complicated than those for the satellite system because the pellets must be powered to achieve the near light speeds required for a stellar drive. They have compartments for the power supply, the ion drive, the beam/starship sensors, and the consumables. These compartments are in a small space, and must communicate with each other, so they are expected to be a difficult manufacturing problem. Thus they are ideal for computer-controlled, Three-D printer manufacturing in plastic.
The plutonium fuel for the pellets can be produced in orbital satellites from spent reactor fuel from fission rectors on the earth. This would require an on orbit reactor. Any remaining radioactive materials from this process can be sent into the sun. Note that this is an ideal way to get rid of unwanted radioactive materials generated on earth. Also the pellets are made from hydrocarbons, which are sent into orbit, and then on the way to the stars or to the sun, so this is an ideal way to get rid of carbon in the earth’s atmosphere. The hydrocarbons for pellets, the pellets themselves and the rocket fuel can be made in SEMAN and in the Aquater Ocean Trade Network (AOTN) on the earth’s oceans. Sequestration of radioactive materials and carbon dioxide on earth then becomes less and less necessary, and long-term sequestration becomes unnecessary.
The rocket fuel, the hydrocarbons for plastic, the spent uranium fuel and the expendables for the starship can be sent up on the earth-satellite beam to earth orbiting satellites. These materials can then be transferred to SESS satellites where the stellar pellets are manufactured and reactors produce plutonium from spent uranium fuel. The completed stellar pellets can then be transferred to the stellar launch platforms of the SESS and launched into the stellar exploration beam. .
This set of launch platforms, consumable supply nodes and starship drive satellites and the stellar beams will make up the SESS
Summary and Conclusions
It has been shown that a set of stable launch platforms, and a supply system for the energy, consumables and pellets for a starship drive system along with the orbital reactor needed for producing the plutonium for stellar pellets can be manufactured and supported by the SEMAN and the AOTN (Aquater Ocean Trade Network) of the Aquater Alliance. This system will be called the Orbital Energy Supply System (OESS). It can be used to drive and support a set of momentum beams for stellar exploration and colonization.