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   February 03, 2008

First call for ISBEP 6 is launched.  ISBEP 6 will be held in a place where November is a summer month, just like it was in Kona in 2007.  However, the geographical similarity ends there: the place of ISBEP 6 is conveniently located in metropolitan area of Phoenix, only 12 miles away from  Sky Harbor international airport.  The organizers considered several Southwestern states for the meeting, and the choice of Phoenix area is not random: the conference will be held in the center of  fast-growing conglomerate of industrial high-tech, scientific and academic institutions.  Doubletree Paradise Valley Resort is located in lovely Scottsdale, modern and convenient suburb of Phoenix, the place which is easy to reach for participants from U.S., as well as for those who will come from overseas.  The vicinity of several large universities, hopefully, will add more student participants to our meeting.  For more information, please, visit the page of Sixth International Symposium on Beamed Energy Propulsion.

November 29, 2008: Arthur Kantrowitz 10/20/1913 - 11/29/2008

Arthur Kantrowitz, Founder of Laser Propulsion       

Arthur Kantrowitz passed away on November 29, 2008 in New York City.  He was 95 years old.  A founder of Avco Everett Research Laboratories, inventor of ablative rocket nose cones (reentry protection), champion of Science Court and professor of Dartmouth College, Kantrowitz will be always remembered as a forefront figure of American scientific community of 20th century.  However, in this brief note I would like to say few words about one of his greatest contributions to mankind: his key role in development of laser propulsion.

Laser Propulsion is a part of rocket science, but don’t be discouraged by a silly tag: the idea is simple.  We pay on average $10,000 per every pound of payload delivered to low earth orbit.  Why that much?  Because we use very inefficient carriers: chemical rockets.  These hydrogen gluttons have to carry everything onboard: fuel, oxidizer, cryogenics, tanks, lines, you name it, leaving a small (and very expensive) room for the payload.  If only we could separate the source of “burning” energy from the vehicle, deliver this energy from outside, the savings on weight and efficiency will be tremendous.

This can be done using energy transfer with laser beams.  This idea was originally formulated in 1924 by Russian genius of space science Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, who believed that beams of light could serve as a source of external energy for driving space rockets, eliminating that way the burden of fuel onboard and making a rocket much lighter, and hence, more efficient.  The idea of light-beaming energy to a rocket in 1924 was just a dream, half-century later Arthur Kantrowitz presented the world with scientifically sound plan for turning this dream into reality..

In 1972 Arthur Kantrowitz published a paper in scientific journal Astronautics and Aeronautics, entitled  “Propulsion to Orbit by Ground Based Lasers”.  This work started a new field: laser propulsion.  In this paper Kantrowitz proposed to change our very approach to space launches: instead of building larger (and even less energy-efficient rockets), start using high-power lasers for space launches of small satellites.  Such satellites would literally straddle the tip of laser beam, focused on their “propellant” area.  When high power laser beam is focused (even loosely) on a solid matter, such matter is evaporated and ionized almost instantaneously, i.e. the release of energy is much higher than one used from burning hydrogen in rockets.  So, laser-driven vehicle will be still flying on the same rocket principle, but exhaust energy and structural lightness will be incomparably superior to hydrogen-burning rockets.

A rocket driven by laser will be composed of very light focusing mirrors, relatively small (energy efficient) solid propellant and, voila: the rest will be payload!  Forget heavy liquefied gases (oxygen and hydrogen), cryogenics, fuel tanks and lines, combustion chambers, etc.: Payload, Propellant and Photons, Period! an essence of laser propulsion (one which you can see in our logo) was introduced by Arthur Kantrowitz, who called it 4P Rule.  So what are the gains of laser propulsion, comparing to hydrogen burners?  Scientifically sound calculations have shown that the price of one pound of a payload delivered to low earth orbit will drop to $100.  Laser propulsion offers 100-fold, revolutionary savings on space deliveries!

The paper of Dr. Kantrowitz from 1972 marked the beginning of a new scientific quest.  In early seventies Kantrowitz has initiated first research program on laser propulsion at Avco-Everett Research Labs, which for over a decade was the only research program in this field in the world.  Later other projects ensued, first laser-propelled vehicles were launched (not into space yet, but high enough to prove the viability of an idea), other countries (Russia, Japan, Germany, China) and hundreds of scientists and engineers worldwide joined the quest for laser propulsion (and other forms of beamed-energy propulsion, such as microwave propulsion).  However, we should always remember one man who started it all: Arthur Kantrowitz, the founder of laser propulsion.

written and posted by Andrew V. Pakhomov

For more reading about Prof. Kantrowitz, please see AIAA Release,  Los Angeles Times article.

October 16, 2008: What's new at ISBEP 6

In order to promote our society and to celebrate our most supportive members, AIBEP Lifetime and Corporate members will receive their deluxe hardwood/metal Membership plaques at the Award Ceremony of ISBEP 6.    

October 15, 2008: Update

AIBEP is in charge of organization of the Sixth International Symposium on Beamed Energy Propulsion.  Just as the previous meeting in 2007 in Kona, ISBEP 6 will be co-chaired by Andrew V. Pakhomov and Franklin B. Mead, Jr.  The location of the conference is anticipated to be on campus in continental U.S., the choice of hosting university is pending.  Meeting week is not determined yet as well, it expected to be in fall, as usual, but the exact dates depend on the choice of location and its weather at the time of meeting.  Proceedings will be printed by AIP in traditional hard-copy format. 

August 01, 2008:

ISBEP 6 will be held next year in United States. 

April 11, 2008:

Internal Revenue Service has granted American Institute of Beamed Energy Propulsion a status of Public Charity under Article 501 (c)(3) of Internal Revenue Code.  The status is retroactive from August 01, 2007, i.e. the date when AIBEP was incorporated.  This means that AIBEP is "qualified to receive  tax deductible bequests, devises, transfers or gifts under section 2055, 2106 or 2522 of the Code." For individual donors this includes:

- federal income tax deduction up to 50% of adjusted gross income on donations;

- complete federal estate tax exemptions on bequests;

- membership fees are tax deductible minus the services provided, see Members for details.

  Corporate donors are eligible for tax deduction of up to 10% of annual taxable income on contributions to AIBEP.   

March 2008:

A group of researchers from University of Tokyo, Institute of Laser Engineering (ILE), Osaka University, Nagoya University and Kobe University reported at 39^th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (March 10-14, 2008, League City, Texas) that they have accelerated glass spheres of diameter 100 μm to speeds exceeding 10 km/s (possibly up to 15 km/s).  The spheres were accelerated with GEKKO XII-HIPER laser, originally built at ILE for nuclear fusion studies.  The spheres were used for impact vaporization experiments, addressing effects of meteorite impacts on planetary evolution.  This is an example of unique application of laser propulsion, allowing accelerate macroscopic objects to planetary velocities that cannot be achieved by any other technical means.  For a reference click here.

from communication with Wesley Swift, Jr., Raytheon Inc. / NASA Marshall SFC, USA

November 14, 2007:

Fifth ISBEP Award was received by Prof. Akihiro Sasoh of Nagoya University (on the picture).  Prof. Sasoh has conducted a long-term research on LITA (laser-driven, in-tube accelerator), spanned over the years and evolved from gas and plasmadynamic simulations to actual design and in-lab flight demonstrations of LITA.  The award was given in recognition of these studies.  Recipients of past ISBEP awards are: Arthur Kantrowitz (2002); Leik N. Myrabo (2003); Anthony Pirri (2004); Claude R. Phipps (2005) and Franklin B. Mead, Jr., (Leadership Award, 2005).

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