Technical Advisors

Ralph H. Nansen

President
Solar Space Industries

Ralph Nansen is the founder and president of Solar Space Industries. He has been recognized as one of the key leaders in the world to develop, promote, and manage the Solar Power Satellite program since 1973. He is the author of an advocacy book for the public titled SUN POWER: The Global Solution for the Coming Energy Crisis, published by Ocean Press.

Mr. Nansen has been involved in space engineering for over 40 years, primarily with The Boeing Company. He started as a designer on the Bomarc rocket-powered missile, and in 1961 was selected to develop the initial configuration used by Boeing in their successful bid to design and build the giant first stage of the Saturn V moon rocket. In 1962 he became design manager of the Saturn S-1C fuel tanks, the first stage of the rocket that sent the Apollo astronauts to the moon.

Mr. Nansen’s final assignment on the Saturn program was as Saturn V Cost-Effectiveness Manager. After the moon landing he moved into the position of Design Manager for the Boeing Space Shuttle definition studies. In 1973 he was made manager of the Design-to-Cost Laboratory.

From 1975 to 1980, Mr. Nansen was Boeing Solar Power Satellite Program Manager and gathered together a team of engineers, scientists, and associate contractors to develop the overall concept under the auspices of the Department of Energy and NASA.

By the mid-1970s, Mr. Nansen was well known for his work in advanced space concepts and cost analysis. He was invited to present numerous papers and participate in international conferences on future space projects in Germany and Egypt. He was invited to China as a member of the first Space Technology Exchange Mission in 1979. Mr. Nansen was asked to testify before Congressional committees such as the Senate Space Subcommittee in 1976 and the House Subcommittee on Space Science in 1978 and again in September 2000. He published numerous articles on Solar Power Satellites and represented Boeing at such major space events as the first Space Shuttle launch in 1981 and the 19th Space Congress in Florida in 1982.

In 1981 and 1982 Mr. Nansen participated in the creation of the space-based ballistic missile defense system that became known as the Space Defense Initiative (SDI). In 1983 and 1984 he was a manager on a classified military program. From 1985 to 1987 Mr. Nansen was responsible for the design of a fully reusable horizontal take-off space transportation system and the structural design of Boeing’s National Aerospace Plane concept.