#8: Ben Nowack - Selling Sunlight to Solar Farms After Dark

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First Principles with Christian Keil

Christian Keil

20 episodes

8 months ago

On First Principles, Christian Keil, Host and Chief of Staff at Astranis, dives into the heart of innovation, making the complex world of deep tech startups approachable without needing a PhD.

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On First Principles, Christian Keil, Host and Chief of Staff at Astranis, dives into the heart of innovation, making the complex world of deep tech startups approachable without needing a PhD.

Technology

Business,

Entrepreneurship

#8: Ben Nowack - Selling Sunlight to Solar Farms After Dark

First Principles with Christian Keil

1 hour 26 minutes

1 year ago

#8: Ben Nowack - Selling Sunlight to Solar Farms After Dark

Episode 8: Ben Nowack built a fusion reactor in high school. Now he’s building huge mirrors in space that reflect sunlight onto solar farms at night.

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(00:00) - Intro
(00:39) - What Reflect Orbital is Building
(02:30) - How the Satellite Mirrors Work
(06:16) - Deploying the Mirrors in Space
(10:14) - Mirror Size Considerations
(13:51) - Dealing with Space Debris and Micrometeorites
(17:07) - Early Demonstrations with High Altitude Balloons
(23:11) - Advantages over Other Space Solar Concepts
(28:56) - Target Customers and Business Model
(35:57) - Constellation Size and Orbit Design
(40:42) - Using Solar Sailing for Propulsion
(49:38) - Benefits of Solar Sailing for Space Exploration
(54:06) - Tiny Force of Solar Sailing and Payload Limitations
(55:58) - Maintaining Altitude vs Pointing at Solar Farms
(59:14) - Attitude Control with Control Moment Gyros
(01:02:44) - Desaturating Control Moment Gyros
(01:05:21) - Monte Carlo Simulations for Constellation Design
(01:11:00) - Monte Carlo Simulation 101
(01:13:38) - Exciting Developments in Solar and Energy
(01:22:17) - Sunlight as a Service Business Model
(01:24:04) - Wrap Up and How to Learn More

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Links:

Christian Keil: https://twitter.com/pronounced_kyle
Ben Nowack: https://twitter.com/bennbuilds
Reflect Orbital: https://www.reflectorbital.com/

First Principles:

Reflectance: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reflectance
Solar power: https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/135642main_balance_trifold21.pdf
Radiation pressure for solar sailing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiation_pressure#:~:text=The%20assertion%20that%20light%2C%20as,and%20Gordon%20Ferrie%20Hull%20in
CMG “control moment gyroscope“: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Control_moment_gyroscope
Monte Carlo simulation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monte_Carlo_method

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Production and marketing by The Deep View (https://thedeepview.co). For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email team@firstprinciples.fm

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Checkout the video version here —> http://tinyurl.com/4fh497n9

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