About the Orbital Infrastructure Builder

Building large structures in orbit — solar power stations, platforms, depots — comes down to area, mass, launch flights, and capital cost. This builder turns a target capability into those four numbers so you can judge the scale and cost of an orbital project.

It is a quick sizing companion for anyone reasoning about space-based solar power or orbital construction at scale.

How to use it

1. Set your target solar capacity in megawatts-peak.
2. Configure array mass and packing assumptions.
3. Run the builder to read effective megawatts delivered, array mass, and area in square kilometres.
4. See the number of Starship flights required and a rough capital estimate.

How it works

Delivered power depends on array area and the efficiency and losses of operating in orbit, so effective megawatts is always lower than nameplate. Mass follows from area and areal density, and flights follow from mass divided by per-flight payload.

Capital cost combines hardware and launch, and because launch is a large share, the model shows how cheaper flights or lighter arrays move the total — the same levers that decide whether orbital solar can compete with ground power.

Worked example

A gigawatt-class orbital array spans several square kilometres, weighs enough to need dozens of heavy-lift flights, and carries a capital cost dominated by launch — which is exactly why falling launch cost is the pivot for space-based solar power.

Frequently asked questions

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