The idea of beaming power from space to an energy-hungry Earth has long been explored. It was first suggested in science fiction 80 years ago.
“The officer’s office at Sun Station No. 5 was quiet—except for the soft murmurs of the mighty Beam Director somewhere far below,” famous author Isaac Asimov wrote in his story “Mind,” which appeared in “Astounding Science Fiction” magazine in April 1941. “
Asimov concerned his characters with a solar energy harvesting station in space that directs beams of energy to receivers. Soiltogether Anthem. Fast forward to the 21st century and research here on Earth and now in space apparently supports this concept. Still, space Solar radiation is viewed by some as a truly remote and out-of-beam technology; a concept that is economically dubious and makes for good science fiction. Space.com reached out to several tech experts to ask what’s new, what’s old, and what’s still missing in terms of power transmission from space to Earth.
Relating to: Scientists beamed solar energy to Earth from space for the first time
triple technology
Caltech’s Space Solar Power Project (SSPP) is seen by some as a beacon of hope for the technology.
It has been more than a year since the SSPP demonstrator technology was launched into the Earth orbit test box. Once in orbit, the SSPD-1 spacecraft tested a trio of technological innovations poised to help move space’s solar needle closer to full reality. Them:
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– DOLCE: Orbital Deployable ultralight Composite Experiment to demonstrate a new packaging scheme and distribution.
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-Alba: 32 different types of photovoltaic (PV) cells to evaluate how they withstand the harsh space environment.
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MAPLE: The Microwave Array Low Orbit Experiment for Power Transmission relies on custom integrated circuits with precise timing control to selectively focus power on two different receivers to demonstrate remote wireless power transmission in space.
Take it to the limit
“A lot of things worked, and we pushed the things that worked well until they stopped working,” said Ali Hajimiri, co-director of the Caltech Space-Based Solar Energy Project.
Hajimiri focuses on integrated circuits and their applications in various disciplines such as biotechnology, communications and sensing, covering a wide frequency range from high speed and radio frequency to low frequency, high precision circuits.
Yes, Hajimiri pointed out that there were glitches during the nine-month SSPD-1 mission. “We had a real problem during the mission, but the team solved it. We ran into all kinds of situations, even with wireless energy transfer. Then towards the end of the mission we really pushed the system, to the point where we actively tried to inflict damage.”
Realization in the attic
On May 22, 2023, the payoff of SSPD-1 literally crashed through the roof of Caltech’s Gordon and Betty Moore Engineering Laboratory. The spacecraft’s MAPLE hardware beamed energy collected in space back to Earth for just 90 seconds.
Hajimiri quickly explained that the level of energy received at the roof level was extremely small. He said it’s mostly about detection, but the real excitement is considering the modest amount of energy received. one small step space for solar energy.
SSPD-1 will soon be decommissioned and will face a devastating attack earth atmosphere.
The project’s attention now turns to solving problems such as increasing scale, ensuring autonomous distribution and developing lighter structures.
unknown unknowns
“There are still many ‘unknown unknowns’ that need to be solved,” Hajimiri said. In this phase of the study, the team is examining the manufacturing processes of fabric-like, low-cost arrays. Additionally, timing synchronization is quite difficult, especially on a flexible, floppy disk that travels in space.
“We developed new ways of thinking about this problem,” Hajimiri added, “ways in which an array can determine its own shape and make corrections for it through its electronics.”
Hajimiri said that even in SSPD-1’s ‘goodbye and farewell’ status, many invaluable milestones were met. “The biggest challenge is to raise awareness and make it clear that what we are doing is real.”
Scalable solution
In the view of Troy, Michigan-based Virtus Solis Technologies Inc., there is no clean, robust, dispatchable energy technology other than Space Based Solar Power (SBSP).
John Bucknell is the group’s CEO and founder. “Those of us who have compared all viable energy technologies know that a scalable solution must be low complexity, low mineral density, mass-producible and able to deliver robust, safe, low-cost e-power in the same way fossil fuels have for the last 200 years,” he said.
Bucknell and colleagues outline a SBSP system that meets all these criteria; a constellation of 16 arrays in space, each pumping out 20 gigawatts of power. Collectively, he said, 320 gigawatts could be delivered anywhere on the planet; This system is scalable to become much larger.
“With 50 percent annual growth in capacity, SBSP could reach 100 terawatts of production within 30 years and meet the needs of a planet with a population of 10 billion,” Bucknell said.
disconnect
“There is still a disconnect between academic studies and aerospace primary production cost studies and what the private sector can achieve,” Bucknell believes. “All in all, our estimate of $200 million to complete research and development and establish a functioning pilot facility in orbit seems incredible.”
He suggested that it was the energy industry, rather than the space industry, that needed to hear and understand these options for Bucknell’s money and investors.
“SBSP still feels like science fiction because they don’t know that the underlying technologies are all mature and just need to be launched into commercial space for that to happen. Virtus Solis was the first to take advantage of this opportunity,” Bucknell said, “Keep pace with a cost target that will appeal to the global energy market .”
Bucknell observed that investors want to see that there is no risk to revenue. “On-orbit demonstration means you have a real product, so the remaining risks associated with assembly and power transfer in orbit have been demonstrated, and then the product can be scaled.”
Standing room only
One of the leaders advocating harnessing solar energy from space is John Mankins of Artemis Innovation Management Solutions in Santa Maria, California.
Mankins attended the International Conference on Solar Energy from Space in April. European Space Agency (ESA) and the UK Space Agency at the Royal Aeronautical Society in London.
“It was standing room only,” Mankins recalls. Whether it was researchers working on space-based power plant technology, from China to Europe’s SOLARIS initiative, “almost none of the 200 were regular players, and that was a huge change.” He said there are ongoing studies in the United Kingdom, as well as progressive perspectives on power teleportation in Japan and other countries.
reusability
Mankins said the foundations of power teleportation were laid over and over again through ground-based experiments. “It seems to me that a function of power beaming was demonstrated decades ago, and now the challenge is how to make really large systems.”
Mankins advised that for any mega-project in space, “the most visible obstacle to space solar energy appears poised to fall,” and that is low-cost, reusable launchers.
Reusable rocket technology pioneered SpaceX and its Falcon-class boosters and now massive starship flight schedule. Similarly, Blue OriginThe New Glenn launcher is approaching its maiden flight. Other countries, such as ESA and China, are also pursuing reusability in the booster business.
turn on the power
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— Japanese satellite will beam solar energy to Earth in 2025
However, there is work to be done in the coming years.
Pointing to the future, Mankins said system-level demonstrations could tackle problems like finding the right design or determining how well technologies can scale and at what price. It is also vital that spacecraft engineers study what is rapidly happening in robotics on Earth and apply it to in-space construction.
Moreover, Mankins recommended that energy radiation from space should increase beyond Caltech’s nano-watt per square centimeter experiment to microwatts per square centimeter.
“But in 2-3 years, a thousand times more power. There will be an incredible amount of progress,” Mankins predicts, “then the cows will come out of the barn.”