OBJECTIVE:

To develop and maintain an organization dedicated to bringing and sustaining free enterprise to our solar system.

METHODS:

• Create vehicles that will allow cost effective realization of payloads into high Earth or Lunar orbits.
• Build and maintain structures in space and on other solar system surfaces. These structures will have the capacity to permanently harbor human life and allow free enterprise to happen.
• Encourage a population of humans to make a permanent move to live in these structures in space. The target is for a self sustaining population is 100,000 individuals all working to form an upward spiraling economy.
• Develop practical, efficient, and cost effective means of exploring and utilizing the resources of this and other solar systems.
• Institute a governing system that allows free enterprise to develop and grow, but also ensures the good of the many takes precedence over the good of the few.

How You May Contribute

My name is Keith Oxenrider and I am committed to doing what it takes to get a self sustaining presence of humans into our solar system. I have created this Web site and Sol System Corporation to achieve this goal. I would like to enroll as many people as possible into realizing this vision. If you are interested in participating and would like to adopt this vision for your own, please help make it happen.

Contributions can be made (but are not limited to) the following methods:

• Providing technical and engineering expertise.
• Providing critiques of the offered suggestions.
• Providing marketing and advertising to generate more interest in this web site and the concept it promotes.
• Acting as an information clearing house, by providing your knowledge of where certain information is available.
• Provide funds for operation of Sol System Corporation.
• Most important: Enroll others into adopting this vision.

This web site is meant to be a forum where people can post suggestions for the realization of this vision. Please send messages to me by email to: koxenrider[at]sol[dash]system[dot]com. I will take your suggestions, edit them for content, put them into HTML format, and add them to this web site in the appropriate area. Unless you ask otherwise, I will attach your name to your submission, and will give your email address to anyone who inquires. I reserve the right to choose whether a submission is of merit and addresses the vision outlined at this web site and to discard it if it does not do so.

A possible method for moving payloads into orbit could be by electromagnetic acceleration. Rather than requiring the launch vehicle to carry every ounce of fuel it needs to get into orbit, I propose that it would greatly reduce the cost associated with launch by leaving the propulsion mechanism on the ground. If a long tube is built that is pointing straight up and is capable of electromagnetically accelerating a payload, it should be possible to get the payload a substantial fraction of escape velocity without burdening the launch vehicle with a power source. I believe (but lack the technical know how to prove) that a tube 1 mile long that accelerated a payload at 10 gravity's should reach a substantial fraction of escape velocity. Anyone who has the ability to prove or refute this statement is encouraged to do so.

I propose building the launch tube described above in the ocean. This eliminates the need to dig a hole in the ground, allows for easier maintenance of the tube, and the ability to aim the tube to a certain extent.

Possible ways to generate revenue from this device is to launch waste into orbit around the moon. If the vehicle is unmanned, then launch accelerations should be much higher, perhaps as high as 100 gravity's. I feel strongly that acceleration that high over a distance of 1 mile should reach escape velocity. Your comments are welcome. Nuclear waste is a possible source of revenue. If the cost of the launch of a pound of payload can be made cheaper than the cost of burying the waste in Nevada, then it becomes a simple economical decision. The same applies to toxic waste. It may also be something that tourists could find interesting. If a launch into a quick few orbits around the earth could be made as cheap as $1000, thrill seekers may lineup to experience the ride and an hour or so of weightlessness. Satellite launches could be made for a tiny fraction of the current cost, thereby making for a much wider customer base for the space industry. Those companies currently using the Space Shuttle may be interested in a much cheaper alternative to allow experimental micro-gravity manufacturing. Any other suggestions are welcome!

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The number one priority is to establish and maintain a permanent orbiting space station. I'm sure that even a primitive space station will be a substantial tourist draw. The greater the tourist draw, the more likely individuals and small organizations will want to establish a presence on the stations in order to cater to the whims of the tourists (and gently remove their cash). A station that hopes to accomplish the above events must be large enough to sustain hundreds and perhaps a couple thousand individuals. A project of this magnitude may find the moon to be a cheaper source of raw materials than the earth. Comments on the economics are welcome. The second priority is to establish permanent ground stations on the moon. This will allow for further tourist revenues and create a permanent supply of raw materials that will cost much less energy than launches from earth.

Once permanent living quarters have been established in space, an incentive (other than employment in the construction industry) for individuals and corporations to invest in the cost of movement into these structures must arrive. Micro-gravity manufacturing should be encouraged, as well as crystal growth for biologic and material sciences. Once a critical population has been established, possibly as little as a thousand individuals, then an economy may form by presenting opportunities for third parties to establish themselves to cater to the needs and wants of those who work in the production facilities. It is possible that tourism will also create a draw for these third parties. Other sources of draws for the migration of humans to permanent presence in space are eagerly sought.

The ability to explore our solar system needs to be made so inexpensive that individuals and small companies can speculate on finding riches in the asteroid belt, on our moon, and on other planets and moons. Transportation to and fro these objects can take as long as weeks (after all, many of the colonies of Britain and France were weeks long travel and yet the expense was considered acceptable) but must be routine and reliable. If solar sails can be made practical, then a source of power can be much smaller. If the launch of payloads described above is of reasonable cost, then the regular shipment of liquid hydrogen and oxygen from earth and the moon is practical.

In order to have effective management of free enterprise, the suppressive elements of conventional forms of government must be freed, while the aggressive elements of free enterprise must be restrained. Unrestrained free enterprise is likely to evolve into an oligopoly, and an oligopoly inhibits the free movement of supply and demand. Certain manufacturing is better suited to an oligopoly due to economies of scale, but too much power can be concentrated in the hands of the few. If a situation like that occurs, then the health of the system relies on the degree of benevolence of those in control. While a benevolent leader may arise, I think it is better to plan for the arrival of a non- benevolent leader and act accordingly. As such, I propose that a form of government similar to that of United States "democracy" be instituted, but those who are allowed to participate in the voting and holding of office first prove their dedication to the success of the vision by participating in such a way that builds the vision. I am interested in all comments regarding this area, and will post any comment regarding any form of government, both pro and con. For the long term success of this vision, I feel that the form of government is critical and this section may wind up being the longest and most involved.