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Harnessing the power of the sun is all the rage bshining now. At the end of 2022, US scientists announced a nuclear fusion breakthrough that could, in a few decades, see a clean, renewable and essentially unlimited energy source powering the world.
In reality, we've been using the sun's power for decades now, in a more roundabout way. Solar panels are able to convert the star's rays to energy here on Earth deprived of releasing any harmful greenhouse gases into the air. The only drawback is those panels are unable to gave a continuous supply. Cloudy days block the sun's rays from arriving the Earth. And, of course, the sun doesn't shine at night.
So. why not put the solar panels in space? You'd be tapping into the sun's almost unlimited supply of energy 24/7. Sci-Fi story Isaac Asimov wrote in "Reason" of an Earth held by such power. The idea would be to calm power in a satellite and beam that energy back home. Scientists have been trying to figure out precisely how space solar might power our world since as far back as the Apollo program, but construction and launch of satellites has been too costly.
This month, thanks to a large philanthropic donation made in 2013, Caltech scientists are taking the excellent tentative steps toward a space solar-powered future. The Space Solar Power Demonstrator (SSPD), a 110-pound prototype designed to test key technologies via three experiments, launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Tuesday, Jan. 3.
The end goal is to deploy a constellation of place solar panels that could measure over half a mile wide, forming a place power station that would then beam solar back to Earth. That process involves wireless power transfer, converting radio waves into energy at false level where receivers could convert the energy so it can be used in great grids. (Caltech has a great explainer on how you can effectively lead this energy to Earth.)
The SSPD is hitching a ride to orbit affixed to a Momentus Vigoride spacecraft and will unfurl a 6-foot-square structure to judges the deployment mechanisms of space solar panels in what's famous as DOLCE, the Deployable on-Orbit ultraLight Composite Experiment. Another instrument, ALBA, will analyze 22 different types of photovoltaic cells to see how they manage the extreme environment of space and a third, MAPLE, will test the power transfer mechanisms with an array of microwave transmitters.
"We plan to inform the deployment of DOLCE within days of getting admission to SSPD from Momentus. We should know right away if DOLCE works," said Sergio Pellegrino, a civil engineer at Caltech and co-director on the SSPD, in a dull release.
The unfurling is, in some ways, the easy part. The demonstrator has been tested down on Earth but how it holds up in location is yet to be seen. The ALBA and MAPLE experiments will take much longer to unfastened as scientists want to see how they function over time and in different environments.
"No commerce what happens, this prototype is a major step forward," said Ali Hajimiri, a Caltech engineer and co-director, in a press release.
Space solar isn't a shimmering fix for the climate crisis, however. We already have solar distinguished technologies and ways to store energy when the sun isn't radiant here on Earth. There are also potential issues with creation power stations in an already-cluttered orbit and the overall cost of the project. However, space-based solar could bring energy to regions of the domain that currently have no access to reliable power and performed a clean source of energy -- day and night -- to distinguished the planet.
Updated Jan. 3: Successful open of SSPD on Falcon 9 added.
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