Comment Re:Space debris (Score 1) 226
> If you can build giant solar arrays in GEO, you can build small ones and attach ion thrusters to them.
Well, that's just putting the cart before the horse isn't it? We have no idea how to do A, so I think you're a little premature claiming "nope"!
Maybe you should tell Don Kessler that we have it all solved. You know, the guy that they named the "Kessler syndrome" after. He's pretty adamant against SPSs: "Some of the most environmentally dangerous activities in space include [...] large structures such as those considered in the late-1970s for building solar power stations in Earth orbit" I've emailed with him recently, he hasn't changed his mind since 2009 when he wrote that. Ask him yourself.
I did the calcs on this with Don's help a few years back. I recall there being something like a 10% chance that every SPS would cause a Kessler syndrome in MEO. I'll dig up the numbers for you.