NASA suggested a comparable energy project more than two decades ago, but it was never implemented. In contrast, the UK government-commissioned independent studies backing a £16bn British version in orbit by 2035.
China has accelerated by two years its intention to deploy a space-based solar power plant that will beam electricity back to Earth.
The first launch for China’s project is set for 2028 when a test satellite orbiting 400 kilometers (248 miles) away will test the technologies used to transmit energy from the power plant.
According to the South China Morning Post, this satellite will “transform solar energy into microwaves or lasers and then guide the energy beams to various targets, including fixed places on Earth and moving spacecraft.”
The intentions were outlined in a study published in the journal Chinese Space Science and Technology after peer review.
According to research on space-based solar power supported by the United Kingdom, satellites in geosynchronous orbit get sunshine 99.9 percent of the time, and at a significantly higher intensity than solar panels on Earth.
The research financed by the United Kingdom proposes “gathering this copious solar electricity in orbit and beaming it to a fixed point on Earth.”
These beams might also be sent to other countries “either as an energy export, as part of our overseas development assistance, or to support humanitarian catastrophe situations.”
In contrast to terrestrial renewable energy sources, orbiting solar power plants would be able to transmit energy to Earth day and night, regardless of season or weather.
According to the Chinese paper’s author, Professor Dong Shiwei, there are considerable engineering obstacles that have not yet been resolved.
Directing high-powered microwaves across substantial distances would necessitate an enormous antenna – potentially thousands of meters in length – while solar winds, gravity, and satellite motion could interfere with the transfer of energy.
The proposal calls for the construction of a massive solar-powered space station in four stages. In 2030, two years after the initial test launch, China would send a more powerful plant into a 36,000 km geosynchronous orbit.
While the test station would have a power output of 10 kilowatts, the larger power plant in 2035 would be able to distribute 10 megawatts to “select military and civilian users.
By 2050, the technology would have progressed and the station would be large enough to enable output of approximately two gigawatts, similar to the output of the majority of the United Kingdom’s terrestrial power facilities.
A Chinese government research organization unveiled plans to design and construct “ultra-large” spacecraft that would be constructed in orbit and may be miles wide.
Large buildings have been constructed in space previously, with the International Space Station requiring 40 assembly flights and more than a decade to create.
However, the massive structures envisaged by the National Natural Science Foundation of China would dwarf the International Space Station, which measures only 357 feet in length, and may take decades or even centuries to complete.
The NSFC describes these structures as “important strategic aeronautical equipment for the future exploitation of space resources, the discovery of the universe’s mysteries, and long-term settlement in orbit.”
