Solar radiation management with a tethered sun shield

This paper presents an approach to Solar Radiation Management (SRM) using a tethered solar shield at the modified gravitational L1 Lagrange point. Unlike previous proposals, which were constrained by the McInnes bound on shield surface density, our proposed configuration with a counterweight toward the Sun circumvents this limitation and potentially reduces the total mass by orders of magnitude. Furthermore, only 1% of the total weight must come from Earth, with ballast from lunar dust or asteroids serving as the remainder. This approach could lead to a significant cost reduction and potentially be more effective than previous space-based SRM strategies.

Automated summary

This paper presents an approach to Solar Radiation Management (SRM) using a tethered solar shield at the modified gravitational L1 Lagrange point. The proposed configuration with a counterweight toward the Sun avoids the limitation on shield surface density and potentially reduces the total mass significantly. Moreover, only 1% of the total weight needs to come from Earth, with the rest being sourced from lunar dust or asteroids. This approach could lead to a significant cost reduction and potentially be more effective than previous space-based SRM strategies.