Value chain · CLM-1366
In plain terms
The paper plans to build up in stages. Small ground lasers come first, then a 1 km array in orbit, and only at the end the 10 km array that its star-flight numbers assume.
The claim as recorded
The same roadmap treats a 1 km laser array as an intermediate step, not the full-scale driver: it proposes building ground arrays of 0.01-1 km first, then orbital 1 km arrays, then orbital 10 km arrays. Its worked flight cases assume the 10 km array and note that a ground site would limit illumination time and so suit only very small payloads.
Evidence behind this: T2, a peer-reviewed journal paper read as the author's arXiv v8 copy; it permits "the paper states Y" for a proposed plan.
Scope and limits
A plan, not a schedule; no dates or costs are attached to the steps on the pages read. The paper does not give a speed for a 1 g craft driven by a 1 km array on the pages read.
What it assumes
No assumptions are recorded against this claim.
Where it comes from
PDF p.47: "Smaller arrays, say 0.01-1 km, should be built for ground use before going to space." PDF p.53: Step V, ground based, scale to 1 MW with 10-100 m optics, explore 1 km ground option; Step VI, orbital testing with 1-3 m arrays at 10-100 kW (paraphrase). PDF p.54: Steps X to XIII, orbital sparse 1 km array, orbital filled 1 km array, orbital sparse 10 km array, orbital filled 10 km array (paraphrase). PDF p.50: speeds would be comparable for a ground array of the same size, but available illumination time would likely limit ground sites, except near the poles, to very small payloads with short acceleration times (paraphrase).
Basis: array side (m, km); laser power (MW, kW)
Cite this
energyaperture.com/c/clm-1366
CLM-1366, Energy Aperture, as of 2022-01.
Connected records
Other published records linked to this one. A list, not a judgement.