Energy from Space Headlines
International news headlines related to harnessing energy in space.
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Total number of Space Energy Headlines: 685
Could parasols in space counter global warming? Israeli scientists want to find out
Source: The Times of Israel : Date: 07-02-2024
A team of scientists at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology have suggested a “cool” fix for global warming — a series of sunshades launched into space to dim some of the incoming rays.
At dusk and dawn: Space reflectors to illuminate future solar power farms
Source: Yourweather.co.uk : Date: 07-02-2024
Kilometre-wide reflectors orbiting the Earth could improve the output of future large-scale solar farms by reflecting additional sunlight towards them at dawn and dusk, and accelerate the move towards net-zero say space engineers from the University of Glasgow.
Space Solar Takes Major Step Forward with its CASSIOPeiA
Source: Space Solar : Date: 07-02-2024
The UK’s leading space-based solar power (SBSP) company, Space Solar, today announces the results of a detailed engineering design and analysis study which confirms the performance characteristics for its CASSIOPeiA Solar Power Satellite concept. The results are further supported by Space Solar’s ongoing wireless power beaming hardware test programme. The study, delivered in partnership with Frazer-Nash Consultancy, has further advanced Space Solar’s design, looking in detail at both ground and spacecraft systems.
Did a NASA study pull the plug on space solar power?
Source: The Space Review / Jeff Foust : Date: 06-02-2024
The NASA study examined two architectures previously proposed for SBSP systems, one “innovative” approach that uses heliostats to collect and focus sunlight and the other, more “mature,” concept that uses planar arrays. Each system would generate two gigawatts of power. The study examined the costs to build, operate, and eventually decommission each system, based on various assumptions. The study’s results both disappointed and frustrated supporters of space solar power.
Space reflectors to boost output of large-scale solar farms
Source: Innovation News Network : Date: 05-02-2024
Solspace: Space reflectors could be used to reflect sunlight towards future solar power farms at dawn and dusk, accelerating the transition to net zero.
Launch Systems, Satellite Manufacturing Way Forward in Indo-France Ties
Source: Geospatial World : Date: 05-02-2024
Interview with Dr. Namrata Goswami: China has the most ambitious space program today. They have announced their goals of becoming the lead actor in space by 2049. They have plans to establish a base on the Moon by 2036; a human Mars mission by 2045, generate solar power from space to earth by 2050, and establish nuclear propelled space crafts by 2050 as well.
The US Space Force Is Also Catching Space Solar Fever
Source: CleanTechnica : Date: 04-02-2024
Research teams from the US, China, and the UK are among those chasing the space solar rainbow. The attraction of space solar is the potential for 24/7 solar power at the multi-gigawatt scale, all year long. ....a hookup between Virtus Solis and Orbital is in the works, that’s a good guess. On February 1, at the SpaceCOM conference in Orlando, Florida, Virtus Solis let slip that it is working with Orbital Composites on a space solar pilot project. If all goes according to plan, the project will be up and running in 2027, deploying Virtus’s robot-enabled fabrication system with Orbital’s 3D printing.
Country aims to shine in space-based solar power tech to boost clean energy
Source: Zhao Lei (China Daily) : Date: 04-02-2024
Multiple teams in China are currently focused on technologies needed for building and running a space-based solar power facility, which will allow the sun's energy to be captured nonstop, something that isn't possible from Earth, said Hou Xinbin, a senior researcher at the China Academy of Space Technology in Beijing and a member of the Committee of Space Solar Power of the Chinese Society of Astronautics.
2027 Orbital Space Solar Power Demo by Virtus Solis and Orbital Composites
Source: Next Big Future / Brian Wang : Date: 04-02-2024
Silicon Valley startup Orbital Composites and Michigan-based Virtus Solis Technologies announced plans Feb. 1 to conduct a 2027 space-based solar power demonstration. The 2027 mission is designed to showcase critical power-generation technologies including in-space assembly of solar panels and transmission of more than one kilowatt to Earth. The 2027 mission will be a precursor to large-scale commercial megawatt-class solar installations in space by 2030.
Sun-Chasing Project Innovates OMEGA-based SSPS Prototype
Source: Mirage News : Date: 02-02-2024
In 2022, a team of researchers from Xidian University in China has completed a full-link and full-system ground demonstration and verification system for an SSPS, named the Sun-Chasing Project. Their study, recently published in Engineering, introduces the design concept of OMEGA 2.0 SSPS, the related key technologies, and the development of ground demonstration and verification system for OMEGA 2.0.
Orbital Composites and Virtus Solis announce space-based solar power demonstration
Source: SpaceNews : Date: 02-02-2024
Space-Based Demonstration. The 2027 mission is designed to showcase critical power-generation technologies including in-space assembly of solar panels ...
This startup plans to beam solar power from space
Source: FastCompany / Adele Peters : Date: 02-02-2024
Virtus Solis aims to pilot its space-based solar tech in 2027. The company plans to put solar panels in medium Earth orbit, and then use robots to automatically assemble them into large arrays—ultimately, hundreds of thousands of satellites connected together like Lego blocks. Each hexagonal satellite, around five feet wide, has built-in solar panels on one side, electronics in the middle, and antennas on the other side.
Essential Guide to Space-Based Solar Power | Technology & Market
Source: By Lars Schellhas : Date: 02-02-2024
Space-Based Solar Power or SBSP could solve all the problems current renewable energy systems like wind and solar are facing. Including intermittency, seasonality, and storage – and still, most people don’t even know that this technology exists. From time to time, we must take a look to the horizon to broaden our perspective. Sometimes, we can’t see the bigger picture. We need to zoom out to find “outworldly” solutions which help to solve our problems. This is true for the energy sector, but equally so for ever other sector.
Clean Energy From Space With John Mankins - The Future of Space-Based Solar Power
Source: YouTube / This Week in Space : Date: 26-01-2024
Climate change has become a top priority for all of us, including NASA. Space solar power—beaming energy from space 24 hours per day—has become a real possibility and is being studied internationally by the US, Europe, Japan, and China. It promises to provide a zero-emissions, zero-carbon source of energy worldwide—but it will take significant investment, development, and commitment. A recent NASA-backed study was positive but careful with its conclusions, and John Mankins, one of the first researchers of SSP in the US who continues to work on the concept, joins us to address the report and to talk about the possible future of limitless, clean, and affordable energy for a hungry world.
Expert Q&A: space based solar power
In-Depth
Source: The Engineer / Jon Excell : Date: 25-01-2024
Experts: Dr Nicol Caplin - ESA, Sam Adlen - Space Solar, Paul Febvre - Satellite Applications Catapult. NC: The primary driver for space-based solar power (SBSP) is the pressing and immediate need to find an alternative energy source that could wean humanity from its dependency on fossil fuels. ESA’s Solaris project aims to provide Earth with a limitless, renewable energy source. The Levelised Cost of Electricity (LCoE) £26/MWh is around one third that of large scale nuclear, on a par with intermittent wind and terrestrial solar and significantly less than other baseload technologies such as nuclear fission.
ESA SOLARIS in Brussels
Source: LinkedIn: Solaris : Date: 24-01-2024
Recent studies have repeatedly shown that Space-based Solar Power could be a a major driver of European space development in all the key capability areas that are considered as needed to level-up Europe to being a global space power. These include low-cost, high-cadence launch, high-power energy generation, very large-scale infrastructure development, robotic assembly/manufacturing, wireless power beaming, in-space transportation, servicing and recycling as well as 'workers in space' and the industrialisation of the Moon for the production and launch of Solar Power Satellite hardware.
KARI successfully tests world’s longest-distance wireless power transfer
Source: Pulse : Date: 24-01-2024
Researchers at the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) have successfully tested its wireless power transfer of 1.81 kilometers in space, the longest distance so far that goes beyond 1.5 kilometers set by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
Is NASA too down on space-based solar power?
Source: Science | AAAS : Date: 22-01-2024
This month, NASA cast a shadow on one of the most visionary prospects for freeing the world from fossil fuels: collecting solar energy in space and beaming it to Earth. An agency report found the scheme is feasible by 2050 but would cost between 12 and 80 times as much as ground-based renewable energy sources. ... A SpaceX adviser told a conference last year the company would achieve a figure of $200 per kilogram. In its projections, the European Space Agency (ESA) has used launch cost estimates of $300 to $500 per kilogram, says Sanjay Vijendran, who heads the agency’s Solaris program.
Space-Based Solar Power: A Vision of the Future or an Unattainable Dream?
Source: Microgrid Media : Date: 22-01-2024
The advancement of SBSP technology may hinge on international collaboration. With various countries and organizations exploring the feasibility of SBSP, pooling resources, expertise, and research could lead to more cost-effective and technologically advanced solutions. Collaborative efforts can also address concerns about the equitable use of space and the sharing of energy resources harvested in orbit. Collaborative efforts can also address concerns about the equitable use of space and the sharing of energy resources harvested in orbit.
NASA report offers pessimistic take on space-based solar power
Source: Space News / Jeff Foust : Date: 19-01-2024
Advocates of space-based solar power are criticizing a NASA report that offered a skeptical assessment of that technology’s ability to provide low-cost green energy. The report, released Jan. 10 by NASA’s Office of Technology, Policy and Strategy (OTPS), examined two previously published architectures for generating electrical power in space and transmitting it to Earth by microwaves, known as space-based solar power (SBSP). The European Space Agency is funding a project called Solaris to examine the feasibility of SBSP. China, Japan and the United Kingdom have performed their own analysis of the technology.
NASA study: clean, space-based solar power beaming is possible
Source: SpaceNews / David Steitz : Date: 19-01-2024
The new NASA report, withheld for more than a year for technical and political review, shows that there appear to be no clear technical showstoppers for an in-space solar power demonstration mission. It also showed that tapping into technologies under development today by NASA’s global partners could make space solar power beaming feasible soon — within two decades. And because pieces of this promising technology are currently or soon to be available, development requires no miracles — just commitment.
Caltech's space solar power project completes inaugural space mission
Source: Interesting Engineering : Date: 18-01-2024
Caltech's space solar power project completes inaugural space mission ... Caltech's Space Solar Power Demonstrator (SSPD-1) was launched into space one ...
Space-Based Solar Farms Could Power the Planet from Orbit
Source: Oil Price / Haley Zaremba : Date: 18-01-2024
Renewable energy's variability problem is being addressed through long-term energy storage, with a projected 15-fold increase in global capacity by 2030. Scottish scientists propose using atmospheric mirrors to enhance solar panel output during low sunlight periods, reviving a concept from the 1920s. Advancements in space technology are making space-based solar farms feasible, with Caltech successfully demonstrating solar power beaming from space to Earth.
First ever space-to-Earth solar power mission succeeds
Source: The Independent / ESA Video : Date: 18-01-2024
Video: ESA plans to explore space-based solar power through its Solaris program. The Space Solar Power Demonstrator (SSPD-1) project launched on 3 January last year with the goal of demonstrating the feasibility of one day harvesting the Sun’s energy and transmitting it wirelessly back to Earth on a commercial scale.
Space-Based Solar Project Completes its Mission
Source: Payload's Space / Rachael Zisk : Date: 18-01-2024
This week, the first demonstration probe to ever successfully beam solar power to Earth from orbit completed its year-long mission. In its year circling the Earth, Caltech’s Space Solar Power Demonstrator (SSPD) notched three major successes: proving the functionality of a spacecraft design to form the basis of a future space power station, testing a compact solar cell for collecting solar energy, and, importantly, transmitting a beam of power from space to a ground station.
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