Space solar power fans: Uncle Sam wants you

How it all began
Krukin said the idea for collaborating with the NSSO came after an event in April when he asked a Pentagon official who was speaking at a luncheon about the NSSO's interest in space solar power after reading about it in Space News. Smith was sitting next to Krukin, and the two began talking about space-based solar power, Krukin said.

Both Smith and Krukin said while they are excited about the potential benefits that could come from space-based solar power, they do not view it as a panacea for military or civilian energy needs, and they encouraged the development of other new energy sources.

With satellites that could collect solar energy and beam it to areas all over the world, Smith said space-based solar power could help reduce the military's need for convoys that carry fuel through dangerous areas, and could be used for disaster relief operations like the reconstruction of an area devastated by a hurricane as well.

"It's a formidable challenge — going back to the moon might be easier," Smith said. "Currently with today's technology, we can't do it. I don't know if the technology of tomorrow can close the business case, but the technology from the day after tomorrow will close it. My job is to find the critical path to the day after tomorrow's technology."

Identifying critical technologies
Smith said the study is intended to identify various efforts within the federal government to develop critical technology needed for space-based solar power, and to use the results to advocate for robust funding for those efforts.

As that technology is matured, energy companies may see that the space-based solar power concept is viable, and build and operate the satellites and required ground infrastructure, he said.

One critical part of the equation likely will be new launch vehicles capable of carrying heavy payloads to geosynchronous orbit at a much lower cost than the vehicles of today, Smith said. Significantly reduced launch costs will be critical — because the limitations of solar arrays, another technology that will need to be advanced to enable space-based solar power, likely will require a large constellation of satellites to handle a small percentage of energy consumption, Smith said.

Smith said he hopes to see space-based solar power systems operational by 2050 that could provide for a few percentage points of total U.S. energy consumption, and perhaps as much as 10 percent of U.S. energy use by 2060.

The path toward evolving the technology could involve developing a demonstration satellite capable of providing about 400 kilowatts of power that could launch around 2012, followed by two 2-megawatt satellites by 2017, he said.

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