TABLE OF CONTENTS
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ESS PHASE I BUILD–UP
The Earth Surface Station (ESS) is just a fancy name for our base of operations located at Spaceport America. There are many components that need to be running as soon as possible.
Our buildings will be located to the east of the Virgin Galactic complex. We will have two 10,000–foot runways, all the facilities to manufacture space hardware, and hectares of solar panels to power everything.
Once the Phase I and Phase II facilities have been completed, the ESS may look like the map in Image 1 [Larger Image].
We need to identify which facilities should take priority in construction. Phase 1 Build–Up should be undertaken with the following progression:
- Water Rights
- Aircraft
- RV Facilities
- Solar Power System
- Other Facilities
- OV – PM – LV
- IM – UV
- CV
- CM
The map above is by no means all–inclusive. Not shown will be the various businesses, housing, municipal, etc. buildings will spring up around our facilities as we grow the oasis in the desert.
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WATER RIGHTS
Our endeavor is going to involve a copious amount of water. Once the initial funding has been secured, we will have the leverage to negotiate water rights deals with state and local governments. Water rights are negotiated and often go to the highest bidder (or to the ones who have superior political clout). $100 billion will give us both the ability to be the highest bidder and to have political clout. Securing water rights is therefore reduced to having enough money and knowing the right people.
The least desirable option is to transport seawater. This adds to the power expense since the water would have to be desalinated first. Additionally, a leak in the pipeline would spill toxic (salt) water onto the land, which is unacceptable. We are therefore forced to find a source of fresh water.
Our first and preferred choice is to obtain water from the mighty Rio Grande River to the west of the spaceport. We would construct a small pipeline to transport the water, along with all the necessary hardware included, such as a filtration system, water pumps, etc. However, this option is probably not viable since the river isn't as mighty as it once was.
Our second choice would be to tap the Pecos River to the east. However, the same restrictions as in our first choice would probably apply in this case as well.
Our third choice is obtaining water from the mouth of the Rio Grande River and using a pipeline to transport the water back up to Spaceport America.
As a reminder, we will secure overfly rights with the state of Texas (Image 2) to an orbital inclination of 60 degrees. We called it "El Corredor" ("The Corridor").
Our water pipeline will follow roughly the same route.
The advantage to this option is that there are few entities claiming water rights at the location where the river empties into the salty Gulf of Mexico. However, the easiest and least expensive method would still be using water from the Rio Grande to the west.
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PHASE I AIRCRAFT
The first order of business is to pave the first of an eventual two 10,000–foot runways (Image 1). This will involve a vast amount of construction costs, labor, water, and time. We will therefore need to use the primary Spaceport America runway in the interim.
We need the C–5A Galaxy cargo aircraft immediately (Image 3). We will travel to the Aerospace Maintenance and Regenerative Center (AMARC) located in Tucson, AZ where hundreds of Galaxies are stored. We will purchase ten aircraft from the US government and hire ex–USAF pilots and mechanics to make the airplanes flyable and fly them back to the spaceport.
The cargo aircraft will be tasked to fly anywhere in the world to transport back all raw materials needed for construction and other needs.
We will also need the C–21A Learjet executive cargo aircraft immediately (Image 4). We will travel to the Aerospace Maintenance and Regenerative Center (AMARC) located in Tucson, AZ where hundreds of Learjets are stored. We will purchase six aircraft from the US government and hire ex–USAF pilots and mechanics to make the airplanes flyable and fly them back to the spaceport.
This aircraft will primarily be used to fly to Santa Fe, NM, Austin, TX, and Washington DC for face–to–face discussions with political leaders.
The CH–53D helicopter will be the last of the flying machines for our space program and will not be needed until the end of the Phase I build–up (Image 5). We will purchase ten aircraft from the US government and hire ex–military pilots and mechanics to make the them flyable and fly them back to the spaceport.
The helicopter will primarily be used for rescue operations within the operational radius.
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RV FACILITIES
We will now discuss the Reentry Vehicle (RV) facilities which will be responsible for launching, recovering, and refurbishing the VentureStar spaceliner.
The Phase I RV facilities include:
- RV Launch and Recovery
- RV Hanger (2 out of 6 Bays)
- Ground Transport System (GTS)
- 3 out of 9 Launch Pads
- Business Complex
- RV Manufacturing
As a reminder, Image 1 represents what the Earth Surface Station (ESS) will look like once completed. Notice that the aircraft hangers and the RV hanger are on opposite sides of the runway.
RV LAUNCH AND RECOVERY
The RV Hanger is where the VentureStars are stored while they are being refurbished for reuse. We will eventually have a total of 17 VentureStars in the flight inventory:
- 3 will be flight ready
- 9 will be prepared for refurbishment
- 1 will be on an extended flight
- 1 will be down for repairs
- 1 will be down for scheduled maintenance
- 1 will be gone because of a Bingo
- 1 will be lost due to accident
The typical floorplan configuration is displayed in Image 7 [Larger Image]. Each column is a Bay, with each Bay holding a maximum of four RVs. One Bay is always down for scheduled maintenance. The RVs are loaded in the rear (bottom of Image 7) and towed out of the hanger at the front (top of Image 7). The RV hanger will refurbish the VentureStars over a 6–day period. The center part of the hanger is where payloads are processed for spaceflight. The gray rectangles represent payload that will eventually be loaded into the VentureStar cargo bay. The payload is loaded into three of the five RVs in the front.
A towbar–less aircraft tug will pull the spacecraft out of the RV Hanger to the Ground Transport System (GTS) after the payload has been secured. The GTS is a rail system that has a platform large enough to accommodate both the RV and tug. The platform will travel on the rail using electric engines to the launch pads.
RV MANUFACTURING
The manufacturing plant will be located next to the RV Hanger. Raw material would enter the building at one end and an RV out the other end. The C–5A cargo aircraft will transport the raw material to the facility.
At 17 RVs every 4 years, that is a production rate of 4.25 VentureStars per year. This figure is equivalent to rolling out one VentureStar every 2.82 months (one every 12.24 weeks).
The facility will also construct the VentureStar Escape Module (VEM) as well as the RV Ferry Portable Aeronautics Cockpit.
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SOLAR POWER SYSTEM
Our philosophy will always be to go green, which means generating renewable energy for our needs. We wish to use photovoltaic modules (solar panels) to generate the necessary power output.
Despite the difficulty of calculating the total power needs for the ESS due to all of the disparate facilities that make up the whole, we have come up with a thumbnail estimate anyway of around 80 MW capacity with an output of around 6 GWh per month or 72 GWh per year.
This power requirement would entail the installation of over 300,000 photovoltaic modules along with a sufficient number of batteries for night operations. These modules will take up more than 400 acres of land.
The Perovo Solar Park in Ukraine represents half of our needed requirements. Image 8 provides a visualization of the enormous amount of land the park occupies.
From Wikipedia:
is a 100 MWp photovoltaic power station located at Klyuchi [uk] - a part of Perove, Simferopol Raion, Crimea, Ukraine. As of July 2012, it was the world's fourth-largest solar farm, and was made up of 440,000 solar panels. It is owned by Activ Solar, and the final 20 MW stage was completed on December 29, 2011.
We would eventually need two of these solar parks.
An estimated one-third of the total capacity would be needed for Phase I operations. This equates to around 100,000 photovoltaic modules generating about 27 MW and an output of 24 GWh annually.
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OTHER FACILITIES
There are an additional five major components left to discuss to complete Phase I. These facilities will be constructed next to the RV Manufacturing plant.
- Intelligence Module Factory
- Orbital Vehicle Factory
- Cislunar Vehicle Factory
- Crew Module Factory
- Service Facilities
1. INTELLIGENCE MODULE FACTORY
This manufacturing plant will produce the IMs for all of our space vehicles. The factory will create an IM core that can be modified to fit any spacecraft.
The IMs used in the OV, PM, LV, and UV are identical. The first three IMs listed will be transferred to the Orbital Vehicle Factory.
The other IM listed will have an airlock system installed to become a UV.
Other IMs will be modified to fly as a CV and sent to the CV Factory.
- The RCS facing a CV Saddlebag will not be installed.
- The RCS facing the CV Core will not be installed as well. The Propellant Input Docking Collar opposite the disabled RCS will be replaced with a Propellant Output Docking Collar.
2. ORBITAL VEHICLE FACTORY
This manufacturing plant will produce the OV, PM, and LV. The factory will create an OV Core that can be modified to become any vehicle. The factory will receive the same IMs indefinitely.
To assemble an OV, simply attach a rocket engine. To assemble a PM, attach a Propellant Output Docking Collar. To assemble an LV, attach a rocket engine without the nozzle extender.
3. CISLUNAR VEHICLE FACTORY
This manufacturing plant will produce the CV. The CV Core is an OV with less than double the propellant capacity and two rocket engines instead of one. The CV Saddlebag is a CV Core without the rocket engines.
4. CREW MODULE FACTORY
We need two kinds of single–level CMs for Phase I operations; specifically, the CM1_4–4–38 and the CM1_4–4–22 variants, which means a one–level crew module with four astronauts and four spacesuits on a space mission that lasts 38 days and 22 days, respectively.
The Emergency Airlock and the Garage will be assembled in this facility.
5. SERVICE FACILITIES
We will need three additional facilities to complete Phase 1 Operations.
- Firefighting
- Hospital
- Landfill
Firefighting will look similar to any major airport firefighting team and their equipment.
The hospital will be a typical facility, including a surgical unit and rooftop helipad.
The landfill is the only component that will be difficult to run "green." We will try to be good stewards of the land and minimize the environmental impact.
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PHASE I BUILD–UP OPERATIONS
While it should be noted that our space enterprise will most certainly be a capitalistic venture, our philosophy is more in the line of Star Trek than Star Wars. We want our endeavors to reflect the ideals of strength of character more than the strength of bank accounts.
In keeping with the Star Trek ethos, the company will never be taken public; we will never trade stocks. We would rather be beholden to our good conscience than to be beholden to shareholders.
We will also zero out the books every fiscal year by donating our excess revenue to the open source development of fusion technology.
We will never generate billionaires, although everyone will be more than fairly paid for their contributions. We are going to be in the business of going into space, not making ourselves rich.
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We will be hiring about 2,000 employees during this time. Most will work in the factories, with the rest in the RV Processing facility.
We want to treat our employees with dignity and respect, so the cost of each employee will average around $200,000 per year, including all taxes and fees such as FICA, Medicare, etc.
Their compensation will not only include a competitive salary, but they will receive world–class health insurance provided at no cost to the employee. The employee will never have an out–of–pocket expense. They will essentially be receiving free healthcare, enjoying benefits such as cancer screenings, yearly physicals, yearlong maternal and paternal leave, all medications, etc.
We will also make the unprecedented move of making sure that the employees have union representation. These unions will make sure the employees are treated like the gold they produce. The employee will pay the union dues since we are offering a generous health insurance plan.
There's more.
Our workers will be on a unique and very progressive work schedule.
Half of our employees will work an 8–hour day, Monday through Thursday, from 08:00 to 16:00. These employees will work 32 hours per week, but get paid for 40 hours a week. Additionally, they get a total of 1 hour off for breaks daily, so they in reality only work 28 hours a week. The best part of this schedule is that the employee always gets a three–day weekend.
The workday will be broken down as follows:
08:00 – 09:45 Work
09:45 – 10:00 Break #1
10:00 – 11:45 Work
11:45 – 12:15 Lunch
12:15 – 14:00 Work
14:00 – 14:15 Break #2
14:15 – 16:00 Work
The other half of our employees will work a 12–hour day, Friday through Sunday, from 08:00 to 20:00. These employees work 36 hours per week, but get paid for 40 hours a week. They also get a total of 2 hours off for breaks daily, so they in reality only work 30 hours a week. The best part of this schedule is that the employee always gets four days off per week.
The workday will be broken down as follows:
08:00 – 09:45 Work
09:45 – 10:00 Break #1
10:00 – 11:45 Work
11:45 – 12:15 Lunch
12:15 – 14:00 Work
14:00 – 14:15 Break #2
14:15 – 16:00 Work
16:00 – 16:15 Break #3
16:15 – 17:45 Work
17:45 – 18:30 Dinner
18:30 – 20:00 Work
We are going to gamble that this type of work environment will attract the best of the best in all the employment positions available. We should have a long list of applicants for every position we will have.
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It should take no more than three years to have Phase I construction completed and operational.
Our first official act will be the "First Shovel" ceremony, where executives and politicians mark the beginning of this creation by politely digging the first shovelful of dirt. Afterward, construction will begin in earnest. We will truck in raw materials until the runway and cargo aircraft are both operational.