Factory Orbit: The Blueprint Explained

When I say that Factory Orbit is designed to be a blueprint for getting us into space, I'm not kidding.

As a child growing up in the sixties, I remember watching the Apollo missions, seeing shows like Star Trek in their first run, and playing with astronaut figures like Major Matt Mason (who headquartered on the Moon), and imagined myself up there with them when I grew up. By 1970, I believed like most of us, that there would be people working in space regularly by 1980... and by 2000, we'd be space vets.

But somehow, it all never happened. The public's interest waned before the Apollo program was over, funding dried up, and NASA became a shadow of its former self. And the Space Shuttle program, expected to revive the public's interest in space, never managed to achieve the popularity of Apollo in its heyday. By 1990, we couldn't even imagine going back to the Moon.

As disappointing as this was, I was much more concerned about the future of Industrial America. The U.S. was losing its advantage in manufacturing and design, and quality products were being made overseas. It was getting harder and harder to find good blue-collar jobs. And as one of those blue-collar job seekers, this problem hit me personally.

But the U.S. still had the advantage in one area: Space. We had the most successful track record in space, and we had the best combination of talent, resources and experience to go back. And there was a good reason to go to space—resources that were either expensive or unavailable on the ground: Microgravity; Near-perfect vaccuum; and Near-zero temperature. These were highly prized resources in many cutting-edge manufacturing systems, and having them at your disposal could mean vast improvements in material and composite manufacture, or even the ability of making things that were practically impossible on Earth, and taking a great leap past the competition.

Unfortunately, the government was not interested in space manufacturing. Why should they be? That's not government's job. Only the business sector would take such a step, in the same way that it was business that drove exploration and expansion in the New World. Sure, some of the first pioneers in the Americas were fleeing religious prosecution. But the bulk of them came to make money, by gaining land, and mining resources no one else had access to.

That was the key to going back to space: To be the first to take advantage of space's resources, in order to make a profit. It was a perfectly sensible reason to go. Now, I needed to figure out how.

As space travel and operations are highly specialized and expensive activities, I hypothesized a consortium of companies, some of which had experience in space courtesy NASA or military contracts, the rest of which had product ideas that would take full advantage of space resources, and all of which could combine their financial power to actually get there. These corporations would in turn hire people with certain work skills, and train them further to be able to do their specialized jobs in orbit. This is not too different than the methods used to staff the first offshore oil derricks... in fact, the parallels in terms of work environment and special needs are numerous.

And finally, I was left with the workers. Ted Canter, the hero of the piece, and all of his coworkers, represent Everyman: Average men and women, needing jobs, and being in the right place at the right time. Their journey would be much the same as the pioneers who followed Lewis and Clarke into the American frontier, seeking their fortunes. Taken a day at a time, their lives could be very pedestrian... but overall, their experiences would be epic. And presto: There was my story, and its focus.

Above all, Factory Orbit was supposed to be believable and practical. So, before I even began the story, I designed a practical orbital facility. I made sure my facility and my plan would work on paper, before I committed my story to it... much as a consortium would satisfy themselves of the workability of their plan first, before hiring a single worker to build it. The result is an orbital facility that I believe can be built today, with conventional materials and our present resources, and with a specially-trained blue-collar labor force, just as the story describes.

Hopefully, all of this has piqued your interest in Factory Orbit, if for no other reason, to find out how practical my plans turned out to be. But for those who would like to see more, here's a freebie for you: My Blueprint on the orbital facility in Factory Orbit, including diagrams of the facility's interior and exterior (PDF format). You can be the judge of how well I did my homework, and how practical the idea is.

Then you can buy the book, and see how well I pulled it off!

  Buy Factory Orbit

The Factory Orbit Blueprint is FREE to download! Choose your format below and right-click (or hold-click) to download:

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