Beamed Energy Propulsion or, in brief, BEP, is a part of rocket science. However, you dont need to be a rocket scientist to get its idea, it is very simple, and I will explain it to you in the next several paragraphs.
The essence of rocket science is the principle of reactive motion. Cars on the highway are pushing pavement and move against it, swimmer pushes with his limbs (or fins) the water, and swims. Space has nothing to push from, because space is empty. So rocket pushes off its own exhaust formed by burning hydrogen with oxygen. Of course, since the space is a vacuum, everything (fuel, burner, tanks, cryogenics, combustion chamber) must be carried onboard.
Rockets cargo space is very expensive. Why? Because with so many elements onboard: fuel, oxidizer, cryogenics, tanks, lines, you name it, there is a small (and very expensive room) for the payload. If we could only find a way to separate the heavy energy source from the rocket, the gain in efficiency of such rocket will be tremendous.
Such separation will be done, if we could beam energy towards the rocket from a remote power station. The rocket will collect the beam and focus it on a "fuel". High-power beam of photons (laser, microwave, x-ray, whatever) when focused on solid matter (even slightly) evaporate and ionize such matter in an instant. I.e. the energy density in such focus is much tighter, than in the heat generated by burning hydrogen. The beam-riding rocket will remain the rocket, it still will need to push from its own exhaust, but this will be much more energetic exhaust, comparing to hydrogen burners! Also, such rocket will be much lighter.
Driven by a high-power photon beam rocket will be composed of very light focusing mirrors, relatively small (energy efficient) solid propellant and, voila: the rest will be payload! Forget heavy liquefied gases (oxygen and hydrogen), cryogenics, fuel tanks and lines, combustion chambers, etc.: Payload, Propellant and Photons, Period! Arthur Kantrowitz, the founding father of laser propulsion, called it 4P Rule.
Can efficiency of beam-driven rocket be compared to hydrogen burner? Yes, this can be done with scientific precision! For example, current price per lb. of a payload delivered to low earth orbit is $10,000. Calculations (repeated many time by independent researchers worldwide) show that with the laser propulsion space delivery price will be reduced to $100 per pound of a payload! It is a hundredfold profit!
In addition to laser beams, other types of energy transfers using microwave, x-ray and even particle beams are getting explored for BEP. The number of in-lab demonstrations of BEP principles grows every year, and the day when we will achieve in-space BEP demonstration becomes inevitable. Of course, there are still a plenty of scientific and engineering problems which should be solved before BEP will bring us its benefits. However, the days for first practical use of beamed-energy propulsion are near.
The essence of rocket science is the principle of reactive motion. Cars on the highway are pushing pavement and move against it, swimmer pushes with his limbs (or fins) the water, and swims. Space has nothing to push from, because space is empty. So rocket pushes off its own exhaust formed by burning hydrogen with oxygen. Of course, since the space is a vacuum, everything (fuel, burner, tanks, cryogenics, combustion chamber) must be carried onboard.
Rockets cargo space is very expensive. Why? Because with so many elements onboard: fuel, oxidizer, cryogenics, tanks, lines, you name it, there is a small (and very expensive room) for the payload. If we could only find a way to separate the heavy energy source from the rocket, the gain in efficiency of such rocket will be tremendous.
Such separation will be done, if we could beam energy towards the rocket from a remote power station. The rocket will collect the beam and focus it on a "fuel". High-power beam of photons (laser, microwave, x-ray, whatever) when focused on solid matter (even slightly) evaporate and ionize such matter in an instant. I.e. the energy density in such focus is much tighter, than in the heat generated by burning hydrogen. The beam-riding rocket will remain the rocket, it still will need to push from its own exhaust, but this will be much more energetic exhaust, comparing to hydrogen burners! Also, such rocket will be much lighter.
Driven by a high-power photon beam rocket will be composed of very light focusing mirrors, relatively small (energy efficient) solid propellant and, voila: the rest will be payload! Forget heavy liquefied gases (oxygen and hydrogen), cryogenics, fuel tanks and lines, combustion chambers, etc.: Payload, Propellant and Photons, Period! Arthur Kantrowitz, the founding father of laser propulsion, called it 4P Rule.
Can efficiency of beam-driven rocket be compared to hydrogen burner? Yes, this can be done with scientific precision! For example, current price per lb. of a payload delivered to low earth orbit is $10,000. Calculations (repeated many time by independent researchers worldwide) show that with the laser propulsion space delivery price will be reduced to $100 per pound of a payload! It is a hundredfold profit!
In addition to laser beams, other types of energy transfers using microwave, x-ray and even particle beams are getting explored for BEP. The number of in-lab demonstrations of BEP principles grows every year, and the day when we will achieve in-space BEP demonstration becomes inevitable. Of course, there are still a plenty of scientific and engineering problems which should be solved before BEP will bring us its benefits. However, the days for first practical use of beamed-energy propulsion are near.
About the Author:
Andrew Pakhomov is founder and president of American Institute of Beamed Energy Propulsion, a nonprofit scientific organization serving to development and popularization of this space technology of tomorrow AIBEP He is also associate professor of physics at University of Alabama in Huntsville. To find more about modern state of beamed energy propulsion, please visit official site of AIBEP.
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