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solidcordon t1_je1ll86 wrote

I'm not sure that there is a way to engineer something that would "prevent it being weaponised".

Nation states are likely prohibited by treaty from putting one in orbit, not sure why a private company should be allowed to do so.

In terms of using it for lunar colonisation the same problems arise but there's no treaties preventing it.

In terms of environmental benefit... all the power you lose forcing the microwave transmission through the atmosphere is energy that would not have been added to the Earth's budget otherwise. Attenuation in the air is drastically increased by water content, so cloudy / rainy areas are not great for receiving stations.

It's not a bad idea in principle and it's well within our capabilities from an engineering perspective but there is no world leader / private individual / council of wise pacifists I would trust with control.

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