/sci/ - Science & Math

>>15994101
Mylar inflatable mirrors are cheap. Look at the proposal for the solar moth, this was supposed to be expendable with LH2 monoprop.

>>15621154
Yes, that's the idea! Asteroids are big and the dV needed is small (at least for NEAs) so the prospector can ISRU its Earth-return propellant, bag up the rest of the rock to bring home, and still come out well in the black economically. Solar moth / laser-thermal also has very nice "leave the reactor at home" economics for interplanetary transport if you use LH2, but that's still served well by having a fleet of those robot prospectors harvesting asteroids for water. Starship or some big government operated nuclear cruiser can deliver the initial "laser lighthouse" to the orbit of Mars, Ceres, Callisto, etc. along with initial crew and some ice mining equipment to provide depots for return trip propellant, and then you have the framework for an interplanetary economy beyond Earth and Mars without being limited by solar flux density, chemical Isp, or private freighter captains owning large nuclear reactors. You could even use lunar based lasers to lift craft from the lunar surface to LLO and TEI to make moon economics a bit better.