Eat The Sun
Building the cheapest path to limitless energy. An orbital ring that bootstraps itself from a $2M seed into the foundation for a Dyson swarm.
Rockets won't get us there
Building megastructures in space requires millions of tons of material. Even at Starship's projected $100/kg, that's hundreds of billions in launch costs alone. We need a different approach.
The Orbital Ring
A structure encircling Earth at 100 km altitude, supported by a cable spinning faster than orbital velocity. The excess centrifugal force holds stationary platforms in place — no rockets needed.
From these platforms, tethers reach down to the surface. Payloads climb up mechanically. The marginal cost is electricity: $1.40 to lift 100 kg to orbit.
The Bootstrap
Previous orbital ring proposals required building the whole thing before it worked. Ours doesn't. Start with a minimum viable ring — 20 tonnes of Zylon cable. Use it to lift more cable. The ring strengthens itself.
First doubling: ~120 days. Second: ~60 days. Third: ~30 days. Each doubling accelerates the next. The ring that costs $2M builds the ring that's worth $1T.
Surface to orbit in three stages
Each stage is optimized for its atmospheric environment. No stage requires new physics — only proven engineering at unprecedented scale.
Surface → 20 km Balloon-supported Dyneema tether
Stratospheric balloon cluster holds the lower tether above the jet stream. Equatorial siting minimizes wind loading. Safety factor: 1.7-2.6×.
20 km → 100 km Ring-supported Zylon tether
Above all weather. 80 km of 1mm Zylon fiber supports 366 kg payloads. Negligible wind loading in the near-vacuum.
Ring Platform 15 kg maglev stator at 100 km
Magnetically levitated on the spinning rotor. Ground-powered via 3.3 kW high-voltage DC through the tether. Fiber-optic comms. Zero propellant.
From cable to Dyson swarm
Three phases. Each one unlocks the next. Each one is economically viable on its own.
Orbital Ring
Launch a minimum viable ring. Bootstrap it through self-reinforcing material transport. Reduce launch costs from $2,700/kg to $1.40/kg.
Lunar Integration
Electromagnetic mass driver on Shackleton Crater. Sling lunar silicon, aluminum, and iron to Earth orbit. Unlimited raw material at negligible marginal cost.
Dyson Swarm
Manufacture solar power satellites from lunar material. Each satellite captures energy AND runs computation. Scale to Mercury disassembly for full swarm.
Does it melt?
A cable moving at 8 km/s through the upper atmosphere sounds like it should vaporize. It doesn't. At 100 km altitude, equilibrium temperature is -10°C in solar minimum — colder than a winter day in New York. Explore the thermal model yourself.
Launch Simulation →Follow the build
We're publishing our research, simulations, and progress in the open. Star the repo to follow along.
Star on GitHub