Timeline
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Budget
Using the previously discussed strategies, we estimate an expenditure of US $ 2.2 trillion to build and put the satellites into space.
Assuming US$ 10 billion expense for each satellite, we can calculate the power that each satellite can provide. During one year of operation, every satellite will provide approximately:
Equation 1. Yearly Output per Satellite
An average of 11 satellites will be added to the constellation every year during the generation 3 launch schedule. This will increase the transmitted power by 963TWh every year. By the end of 2050, the cost of electricity would be $0.01/kWh.
This does not take into account that satellites often surpass their designed life expectancy (>30 years, in this case), meaning that the eventual cost could be reduced even further. See Table 1 below.
Table 1. Cost Budget
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