El concepto de sat\u00e9lites de energ\u00eda solar, postulado por primera vez en 1968, parece estar de nuevo de moda, no solo en los Estados Unidos con iniciativas en el Departamento de Defensa y la NASA, sino en todo el mundo, incluso en Beijing.<\/p>\n
WASHINGTON \u2014 The idea of using satellites to capture solar radiation in space and beam it back to Earth to use as energy was first posited in 1968, and first caught the interest of the US government during the mid\/late-1970s \u201cenergy crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n
After a number of technology development initiatives by NASA and the Energy Department fizzled out due to technical and funding challenges, the Defense Department picked up the baton 40 years later.\u00a0 A\u00a02007 report<\/a>\u00a0by the now defunct National Security Space Office dubbed\u00a0space-based solar power<\/a>\u00a0a \u201cstrategic opportunity that could significantly advance U.S. and partner security, capability, and freedom of action.\u201d<\/p>\n But ultimately Pentagon leaders at the time in essence tagged the issue as \u201cnot my problem,\u201d and the report was filed away on a shelf somewhere deep in the five-sided building to molder.<\/p>\n Now, 15 years after the last failed push, the concept of solar power satellites seems to be back in fashion \u2014 not just in the US with initiatives at DoD and NASA, but around the globe \u2014 despite continued technical challenges involved in developing an operationally effective system, as well as lingering questions about the high investment costs of the supporting architecture.<\/p>\n Most recently, for example, the European Space Agency (ESA) in mid-August announced that it would be seeking funding from its decision-making ministerial council in November to launch a feasibility study program, called\u00a0SOLARIS.<\/a>\u00a0In an\u00a0Aug.16 YouTube video<\/a>, ESA explained that the effort is part of the European push to find clean energy sources for the future that can help mitigate the climate crisis. If successful, SOLARIS would result in a fully-funded development program starting in 2025.<\/p>\n ESA hasn\u2019t yet released its proposed budget for SOLARIS, with ESA officials currently engaging with representatives of member states to suss out their level of interest, an official at ESA\u2019s European Space and Technology Research Centre in the Netherlands told Breaking Defense.<\/p>\n \u201cWe would expect interest from countries that have the biggest challenges in meeting\u00a0their Net Zero goals<\/a>\u00a0by 2050 when relying only on existing energy solutions,\u201d the official said in an email.<\/p>\n European and US officials with hands-on experience say up to now no European military has expressed interest in the concept. Instead, the continental focus is firmly on climate and future energy independence. The latter issue currently weighs the minds of leaders in European countries, like Germany, that are heavily dependent on Russian natural gas \u2014 as Moscow\u00a0continues to throttle back<\/a>\u00a0exports to Ukraine\u2019s supporters in the ongoing war.<\/p>\n However, in the United Kingdom, which is no longer a member of the European Union but continues to participate in ESA, there is support for the concept both from the UK Space Agency and the Ministry of Defence.<\/p>\n The UK Space Agency on Aug. 26 updated its July guidance document for a\u00a0Space Based Solar Power Innovation Competition<\/a>\u00a0comprising a handful of planned projects worth up to \u00a36 million ($6.9 million). And speaking\u00a0July 14<\/a>\u00a0at the Global Air and Space Chiefs\u2019 Conference in London, MoD\u2019s first-ever director of space operations waxed eloquent about the concept\u2019s promise including for the armed forces.<\/p>\n In particular, Air Vice-Marshal Harv Smyth noted that China is now two years ahead of its own 2030 schedule for deploying an operational satellite designed to harness solar power\u00a0\u2014 echoing concerns\u00a0voiced by DoD supporters<\/a>\u00a0of space-based solar power that Beijing intends to dominate the future energy market.<\/p>\n According to a\u00a02020 report<\/a>\u00a0by The Aerospace Corporation, China intends to become a \u201cglobal leader\u201d in developing solar power satellites, viewing their use as a \u201ca strategic imperative to shift from fossil-based energy and foreign oil dependence.\u201d<\/p>\n Japan, Russia and India also are pursuing development efforts but none as ambitious as that by Beijing, the reported noted.<\/p>\n In the past few years in the US, it is the military that re-invigorated government interest. After all, the US military has a huge financial stake in finding cheaper energy sources. DoD is the biggest single consumer of energy in the US, and the world\u2019s single largest institutional consumer of petroleum, found a 2019 study by Brown University\u2019s Watson Institute of International Public Affairs. Between 2001 and 2018, the military \u201chas consistently consumed between 77 and 80 percent of all US government energy consumption,\u201d the study said.<\/p>\n But for the moment, space-based solar power efforts in the US remain similarly small and confined to the realm of scientific study and demonstration \u2014 aimed at working out the myriad technical obstacles that remain in the path of developing an operational capability.<\/p>\n NASA in May announced that it is starting a study to review various approaches to power-beaming in space \u2014 for example, either microwaves or lasers can be used to transfer radio frequency energy converted from solar radiation on-board the satellite \u2014 to determine whether, and to what degree, the civil space agency should support new efforts.\u00a0According to a May 28 report<\/a>\u00a0in Space News, NASA will compare space-based solar power to terrestrial alternatives and will examine the potential costs in the light of technological advances, such as lower launch costs.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the Air Force Research Laboratory is gearing up for its next test under its\u00a0ambitious Space Solar Power Incremental Demonstrations and Research (SSPIDR)\u00a0<\/a>initiative to develop a suite of foundational technologies.<\/p>\n Northrop Grumman is partnering with AFRL on SSPIDR, having put some $15 million of its own research funds into the project. The company also received slightly more than $100 million from AFRL in 2018 for the initiative\u2019s flagship mission, an experimental satellite called Arachne due to launch in 2025.<\/p>\n The test, slated for late this month, is focused on the rectifying antennas, or rectennas, that are needed to convert electromagnetic energy to usable electricity on the ground, an AFRL spokesperson said.<\/p>\n AFRL and Northrop Grumman first \u201csuccessfully demonstrated RF to rectenna wireless power beaming in early\u00a0May 2022<\/a>\u2033\u00a0that was \u201can important step in validating the work that has been completed as SSPIDR progresses towards a fully functional space-based flight experiment,\u201d said Paul Matthews, a Northrop Grumman fellow working on the project.<\/p>\n \u201cA more complete demonstration will be performed in late September which will prove the ability to steer the RF beam and direct energy to multiple remote rectennas,\u201d he added in an email.<\/p>\n Another SSPIDR sub-experiment, called SPIRRAL for the Space Power Infrared Regulation and Analysis of Lifetime, remains on track to launch in the summer of 2023. SPIRRAL will test \u201cVariable Emissivity Materials, or VEMs onboard the International Space Station,\u201d the AFRL spokesperson said. Such materials are needed to manage the intense heat from solar radiation bombarding the satellites systems.<\/p>\n