Space solar power fans: Uncle Sam wants you

By Jeremy Singer

Space News staff writer

updated 3:00 p.m. ET July 25, 2007

BOSTON - A Pentagon office is taking advantage of the collaborative nature of the Internet as it studies potential applications for space-based solar power, according to one of the officials leading the effort.

The effort marks the first time the National Security Space Office, or NSSO, has conducted a study that relies heavily on Internet collaboration, according to Air Force Col. (select) M.V. "Coyote" Smith, chief of the NSSO's future concepts division. Smith is the director of the study, which began in late April.

In a July 18 interview, Smith said his time is the only resource the NSSO has used on the study, which is due to be delivered to Maj. Gen. James Armor, NSSO's director, in September. Two other Pentagon officials leading the effort are working on a volunteer basis in their spare time, and John Mankins, a former NASA official who had led the agency's work on this topic, is donating his time as well to help the NSSO tap into past work, Smith said. Mankins currently serves as president of the Space Power Association.

A key component of the study is an ongoing discussion moderated by Smith on a Web site hosted by the Space Frontier Foundation. The foundation also has helped collect input from scientists and engineers who also have been working on the space-based solar power issue, in many cases in their spare time as well.

The Web site has received more than 5,000 hits since it went online in mid-June, Smith said. The site features a blog run by Smith, and people interested in the topic can respond to his posts with feedback. The site also features information about the NSSO study and articles on the topic.

Based on the success thus far, Smith said that he would like to see the NSSO open future studies up to similar public discussion where classification is not a limiting factor.

Jeff Krukin, executive director of the Space Frontier Foundation, which has been studying space-based solar power for years, said that he has been pleased with the collaboration with the NSSO thus far, and would like to work together again on other topics in the future. Krukin said he has welcomed the NSSO's interest in space-based solar power, as it helps add legitimacy to the concept.

The Space Frontier Foundation believes that there are energy and environmental benefits that could come from space-based solar power — collecting solar power in space and transmitting it back to Earth — and that construction of systems for this purpose could provide a major stimulus for the space industry. For example, it could lead to the construction and launch of more satellites, he said.

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