Value chain · CLM-0522
In plain terms
The UK study used a 20% return requirement, based on what institutional investors are expected to want. The US study used 3%, on a one-line assumption of government funding, and did not test what a different rate would do.
The claim as recorded
Frazer-Nash's 20% LCOE hurdle rate is based on "the projected hurdle rate required by institutional investors", an assumption "agreed after extensive discussion", not a market-observed figure; NASA OTPS's 3% rests on one sentence, "We do not consider the rate on return of equity in our calculations for example, as our baseline scenario assumes Government financing", and is not varied anywhere in the report's own sensitivity analysis.
T4 commissioned study or industry paper · high confidence · as of 2021; 2024 · past review · VER-1685 CONFIRMED 2026-10-02 (also VER-1665 PARTIAL 2026-10-01) · XC02
Evidence behind this: T4 (SRC-021); T3 (SRC-012)
Scope and limits
Neither rate is empirically derived from an observed transaction; both are stated assumptions.
What it assumes
No assumptions are recorded against this claim.
Where it comes from
SRC-019 Space Based Solar Power as a Contributor to Net Zero - Phase 2: Economic Feasibility - Annex B:...
SRC-021 Space Based Solar Power as a Contributor to Net Zero - Phase 2: Economic Feasibility, 2021
SRC-012 Space Based Solar Power., 2024
Quoted in full at claims.md ~4993 and ~5178. "The discount rate used to account for the costs of capital and risks in the project is based on the projected hurdle rate required by institutional investors. This assumption was agreed after extensive discussion as suitable to provide balanced comparisons with other technologies." (SRC-019 Annex B, p.5, verbatim) SRC-012 printed p.56 / PDF p.73, verbatim: "We do not consider the rate on return of equity in our calculations for example, as our baseline scenario assumes Government financing."
Basis: discount rate, percent, LCOE calculation basis
Related records
- Answers question
- QST-039 not published in this release
Cite this
energyaperture.com/c/clm-0522
CLM-0522, Energy Aperture, as of 2021; 2024.
Connected records
Other published records linked to this one. A list, not a judgement.
- Also from SRC-012
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- Also from SRC-019
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- Also from SRC-021
- CLM-0170A UK government-commissioned study estimates the cost of electricity from a mature (fifth-built) space solar power satellite at roughly 3.5...CLM-0171The same model shows the cost of electricity is noticeably higher for the first unit built than for the fifth, and when this study compares...CLM-0172The study uses a high assumed rate of return (20%) to work out the headline cost-per-unit-of-electricity figure, but uses a much lower...CLM-0173Developing a working space solar power system for the UK is estimated to cost somewhere between about 7.5 and 16 billion pounds (in 2021...CLM-0174On the study's own numbers, a first space solar power system would not, by itself, earn investors the return they would expect (20%) - it...CLM-0175For every pound of public money put into the whole programme, the study estimates the UK economy gets back between GBP 1.30 and GBP 1.80...CLM-0538The US and UK studies are not just using different toughness levels for the same test -- they are answering different questions. The US...CLM-0714The 2021 UK study by Frazer-Nash Consultancy proposed that the satellite fly itself to its final orbit, using its own solar panels to run...More on the source page.