March 2021
Eyes on the prize
... greater demand. Graphic produced by the European Space Agency to illustrate the concept of gathering solar energy in orbit and beaming the power to Earth. The opportunity for space-based solar power is increasing at the same time as the technology...
January 2019
Preparing for a robotic revolution in Earth orbit
... characterisation could also benefit from in-space assembly. Perhaps the largest space structures that have been extensively studied are those for space-based solar power production. Solar energy harvested in space has a capacity factor of nearly 100...
July 2019
Settling the final frontier
..., and the vast range of services available from commercial satellites are just a few. Clean, limitless energy: space-based solar power – stations that collect energy from the Sun and transmit it down to locations on Earth, have the potential...
27 August 2021
China funds 5yr study into kilometre-scale ultra-large spacecraft
..., spoke about using the new super heavy-lift rocket currently under development to construct the massive space-based solar power station. More than 100 Long March 9 launches and around 10,000 tons of infrastructure, assembled in orbit, would...
July 2014
The hypersonic grail: advances at DARPA, AFRL and beyond
... manufacturing payloads; and perhaps even economically viable space-based solar power. An artist’s impression of the Zehst (zero emission hypersonic transportation) Boeing Hypersonic Space and Global Transportation System TSTO RLV concept Hypersonics...
September 2021
Developing an in-orbit servicing and manufacturing economy
... existing systems but to create new systems in orbit. For example, megastructure initiatives, including the development of space-based solar power facilities, are being advanced by many nations including the US, China, Japan and the UK. If these are...
