Hosted by the Space Frontier Foundation to assist the National Security Space Office study on Space-Based Solar Power development.
Disclaimer
Anything you say here may influence the security space community to advance space-based solar power technologies like low cost launch systems, wireless power transmission, on-orbit construction, and extraterrestrial resource development that are needed to harvest endless clean energy from space.
Its time to let actions speak louder than words. We’re going to build the first ever space-based solar power satellites!
I made this announcement at the International Space Development Conference and again at the New$pace (properly spelled with a dollar sign) conference in Washington D.C. this summer. Now it’s time to let you in on what has been discussed. We are still at the beginning of this project. That’s why I want to start by going public. I believe in providing transparency into this project because developing another source of safe, clean energy is just too important to the US, our Allies, and the World.
In addition, I want to hear from you. You probably have lots of ideas that can help us out. Now, let’s look into our project a bit closer.
Background:
Earlier this summer Ambassador Roger Harrison, the Director of the Eisenhower Center for Space and Defense Studies at the United States Air Force Academy, had the idea of building a small SBSP demonstration satellite at the Academy and in concert with a handful of other highly technical and competent universities inside the US. He invited me to serve as the “Visiting Associate Director for Special Space Solar Power Projects” at the Eisenhower Center. Yes, that ominous sounding title is a mouthful that makes me chuckle every time he says it. For some reason it makes me want to wear a bigger hat with my uniform.
Our Vision, Mission, and Mandate:
Our vision is to light a single bulb from space and in-so-doing light the path for business to follow.
Our mission is to give academy and university students a one-of-a-kind educational experience solving real world energy problems on the path to commercial development of space-based solar power. At the same time, this will help build the work force for industry to capitalize on.
Our mandate is to Keep It Cheap And Simple and deliver it Soon (KICASS).Be careful who you pronounce the acronym in front of…and please use a hard ‘c’ sound, because a soft ‘c’ is unacceptable!
Project Overview:
The project involves the building of two satellite systems concurrently, one “heavy” and one “light.”This dual approach using radically different methods gives us greater assurance that we will succeed in the event that technical, legal, financial, or other challenges bog down one effort.Both satellite missions will be launched into space, if possible. The desired launch dates are in 2010.
Each satellite must weigh 400 pounds or less and be prepared to ride into orbit for free on an ESPA ring. In order to keep the weight of the satellite down, we must use lasers for power beaming because the microwave systems are way too large. There is a benefit in this. Neither the Federal Communications Commission nor the International Telegraphic Union need to be consulted for laser energy beaming as there are no associated frequencies that must be deconflicted. Such consultation would be required if we were using microwave.
The “heavy” satellite mission represents a more complicated set of tasks and greater expense than its counterpart.It will place on orbit a satellite that will collect power and broadcast it to Earth via laser (1.0 or 0.86 microns).In order to keep the size of the solar array light and manageable, we will accept several orbits to allow the satellite to store energy and build up a sufficient charge for broadcast to the ground receiving station where the lightbulb will be illuminated.The use of a positive control laser at the ground receiving station will be used to allow the satellite to aim its laser precisely at the receiver and to authorize its discharge.
The “light” satellite mission turns the experiment on its head.It will place on orbit a satellite that merely contains a receiver and the lightbulb that will be illuminated by a ground-based laser (1.0 or 0.86 microns). Visual observation of the light on the satellite being illuminated during the laser broadcast will indicate success.
To keep the project as cheap as possible, the use of existing ground equipment is desired.Using simple satellite designs and employing proven hardware is also desired.
The satellites need not have a long on-orbit life and our goal is to allow them to safely deorbit at any time after successfully completing the experiment, which will likely include the requirement for replication by independent observers.
Limitations:
International Traffic in Ams Regulations (ITAR), which I hate with a passion, prevents us from working with non-US universities and non-US citizens. (I personally cheer on all attempts to improve ITAR (WIHWAP) so we can collaborate more broadly with our traditional and especially our non-traditional international partners.)
Money is a factor. We have to do this on the cheap. Ambassador Harrison is exploring ways that organizations and individuals can make tax deductible contributions to educational institutions which can be used to fund this project. In addition, I am sure he’ll accept funding from government organizations that would like to advance this concept.
Some will accuse us of trying to field a weapon. This is simply not the case, but we are taking measures to alleviate such concerns. Theresa Hitchens from the Center for Defense Information sits on this project’s advisory board. She has complete access to everything we will be doing. We share her belief that providing transparency into this project is the principle method of preventing baseless accusations.
Conclusion:
There you go. Now, once again, you know as much about this project as I do…and I’m leading it!
Please provide comments and lets get the discussion going.
First-of-a-Kind Long-Distance Demonstration of Solar-Powered Wireless Power Transmission Technology
WASHINGTON, Sept. 11 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The following event announcement was released by the National Space Society:
What: Space solar power could be a clean, renewable solution to America’s long-term energy needs. John C. Mankins, former manager of NASA’s Exploration Systems Research and Technology Program, and one of the foremost experts on space solar power, will announce on Friday a milestone demonstration of the critical technology enabling SSP: long-distance, solar-powered wireless power transmission.
The project demonstrated wireless power transmission between two Hawaiian islands 148 kilometers apart, more than the distance from the surface of Earth to the boundary of space.
It will be featured in an hour-long special that evening on Discovery Channel as part of DISCOVERY PROJECT EARTH, an eight-part series on the most ambitious geo-engineering ideas to tackle global climate change and the need for new and sustainable energy sources.
I told Mike “Green Hornet” Hornitschek that we’d be famous!
The Discovery Channel (which my kids LOVE and we LOVE them watching it!) will show a documentary on Space-Based Solar Power at 10pm on 12 September, 2008. We filmed it in Washington DC at the Space Frontier Foundation’sNew$pace 2008 conference (you are a member, aren’t you?). It was so totally cool working with the pros from the Futures Channel who did the filming (they must work closely with the Discovery Channel). It was amazing watching them do their thing. They turned a small conference room at the hotel into a studio, wired us up, created mood lighting, and all that Hollywood stuff. These guys were entirely professional and WOW, it was entirely motivational being around professional media people who want to tell a story so kids get excited!
So, here is the preview from our most excellent friends at the Futures Channel:
Make sure you tune-in to the Discovery Channel when it airs. Record it, and share it with all your friends, consistent with the laws in your viewing area*!
Cheers!
Coyote
* We’ve got to be careful with copyright laws…I once got into a kerfuffel because I described a baseball game to a friend of mine without the expressed written permission of the commissioner of major league baseball!
I was asked two interesting questions yesterday by people interested in commercial development of space-based solar power (SBSP):
How would a company obtain a geostationary parking slot for a SBSP satellite?
How would a company obtain a license to broadcast power from space over radio frequencies?
Excellent questions. Here are the answers that I slapped together from the Internet. (Special thanks to Maldivian Digital, and Wikipedia for having some well researched info posted on their sites!) Please check my work and let me know if I’ve embarrassed myself in public (again):
It is critical for business case developers and architectural designers to consider how we will feed the energy provided by space-based solar power satellites from the rectifying antenna on the ground into the existing power grids. Wind power is already having a major problem within this.
Our friend, starbase202, sent me this interesting article that describes the problem. It comes from the New York Times online: (please disregard shots taken at political figures in the article–that’s not our aim here)
Power beaming is a critical for space-based solar power. It also would be nice if our laptops and cell phones didn’t need to be plugged in, becoming truly wireless.
Intel recently brought the concept closer to reality with a live demo illuminating a 60 watt bulb on stage at an annual meeting in San Francisco of the company’s developers. Their goal is simple, free computers and other devices from power cords.
In my humble opinion, the greatest impediment standing in the way of greater business opportunity and international partnerships for the American space industry are our export laws contained in the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR), which Ihate with apassion!
It is important for us to understand how ITAR (WIHWAP) can affect our space industry, because space-based solar power is such a huge undertaking that international partnerships will be required not only for construction, but also for ownership and development of an international customer base.
The Economist published an article yesterday criticizing ITAR (WIHWAP). The AIAA Daily Launch (an email news service for members of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics–you are a member, aren’t you?) described the article this way:
Today I was asked by a politically-minded individual what political hurtles space-based solar power might face when confronted with questions of weaponization, safety, and multinational approaches. My reply is below. Please check my work!
“Your concern about weaponization of the system and environmental risks are proper and deserve solid answers. For the answers (and a whole bunch of other great information) let me point you to a special edition of Ad Astra magazine produced by the National Space Society. Read the rest of this entry »
One of our heroes, O Glenn Smith, has picked up the torch for space-based solar power and is doing all he can to get the word out and to stimulate research and development. He hit two very major news outlets in the same week!
Included here are the slides he used to describe a new way of thinking of national energy consumption. \”SSP In a Changing Energy Diet\” Instead of discussing the energy “mix” of sources, he rightly points out that like calories in a person’s diet, not all calories are equal.
Take a look at this video. It was posted a few days ago on Youtube. Apparently it was made by people who want to inform the next administration about the long term energy and environmental benefits of a space policy that embraces space-based solar power.
So for those of you who have been contributing to the discussions here, THIS IS A STORY ABOUT YOU and the good things you’ve been doing here. So, the next time your spouse or significant other complains that you are spending way too much time in the blogosphere…toss him or her a copy of this magazine and say, “I’ve been doing important work to solve the energy crisis!” You’ll be telling the truth!
Kudos to the National Space Society and their Ad Astra team–they are great people to work with and are doing a great job advancing humanities spacefaring prowess. You are a member, aren’t you?
The material, a thin coating comprised of low-density arrays of loosely vertically aligned carbon nanotubes that absorbs more than 99.9 percent of light, could one day be used to boost the efficiency and effectiveness of solar energy conversion, infrared sensors and other devices…(bolding by coyote)
Would a couple of our technical friends please explain why this could boost efficiency and effectiveness of solar energy conversion…better yet, apply this to space solar power?
Our very good friend, Hu Davis, recently circulated some good questions regarding the who, what, when, where, why, and hows of demonstrating space solar power. He poses the questions from the perspectives of two groups; space solar power enthusiasts, and some NASA people who work the International Space Station (ISS). (Please note that like the rest of us, our friends at NASA-ISS are just brainstorming with us to see what help the ISS might be able to lend to advance space solar power concepts–there is no official NASA position or policy on any of this yet.)
One of our regular contributors, Dan Lantz, provided us with a link to an incredibly well done Internet video that explains the Google Lunar X-Prizes for Lunar Exploration in a production called “Moon 2.0.” Space-Based Solar Power makes a cameo appearance!
Personally, I think it steals the scene, like Sean Connery arriving triumphantly in the last scene of Keven Costner’s movie “Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves.” Oops, did I spoil it? Sorry. Read the rest of this entry »
I’m back by popular demand…and you are back by even more popular demand!
It’s been almost a month since we published the Interim Assessment on the 10th of October in a very public event at the National Press Club in Washington. Then we took a little pause, did a few media interviews, and now we’re ready to get busy again!
You remain the central players in this effort. The Interim Assessment was built on the bedrock of comments provided right here on this website. Quite frankly, by working together in this wide open public forum, we learned more and spent less than any other study on record! More importantly (and to our amazement) we discovered enormous public enthusiasm for space-based solar power!
Yesterday at one of my alternate work locations (okay…another one of D.C.’s Irish pubs) a space skeptic asked me to write down all the security reasons that explain why the DoD is interested in space-based solar power. Fair enough. So this is what I wrote on the bar napkin: (I share it with you because that’s what I do!)
Yesterday I met with a world-famous, economics-minded, globetrotting, space cynic. Naturally, this was at one of the D.C. area’s Irish pubs, which various Internet sources claim is my typical work location. Um…yea. The discussion was too good to keep to myself, so here are some takeaway points for your consideration and comment:
Regarding power beaming from satellites at GEO to the Earth’s surface:
“The atmosphere has two bandwidth width windows though which it is possible to beam power between space and the surface efficiently, and outside of which atmospheric absorption will kill you: (1) a microwave window, of which the 2.45 GHz frequency (~ 12 centimeter wavelength) employed in the 1970s DoD/NASA reference SPS design is typical, and (2) a visible window extending perhaps as far into the near infrared as a micron of so in wavelength. …
One of the goals is to turn space solar power over to the commercial sector as soon as possible. This demands a business case that allows competitive pricing to the consumer for space-based solar power while creating sufficient profit motives for industry. One of our participants asked for the following:
“I want to ask for an separate and identified ongoing discussion of the business case on this web site. That section would need to include an evolving market and financial analysis models. It would be a kind of progress chart towards actually doing the deed.”
To give you a basis for analysis, by 2050 the goal is to have forty or so concentrator-photovoltaic space-based solar power (SBSP) satellites in geostationary orbit, each broadcasting via microwave between 2-5 gigawatts of power to terrestrial electrical power grids, with 1-to-5 broadcast antennas that can beam power to as many locations.
This must be done using a sound business case. John Mankins calculates that this can be achieved by keeping the costs of delivery and assembly on orbit below $3,500 per kilogram–keeping the cost to customers below $0.10 per kilowatt/hour. This will drive robotic assembly and tug systems to pull these enormous structures from low orbits to geostationary. On orbit fueling stations will be required. Paul Werbos believes the best way to do this is to get launch costs down below $200 per kilogram. But several other factors help make the business case. For example, if the price of other energy sources goes up it helps to close the business case for SBSP. Other factors include the efficiencies associated with solar collectors, energy conversion, antennas/rectennas, signal path loss, etc. Dennis Wingo and others have suggested that the first customers for space-based solar power will be international–in areas such as India and Japan where the price per kilowatt/hour is astronomical compared to the Americas or Europe. All of this goes into making the business case.
The Russian News and Information Agency released a story by Yuri Zaitsev (click the link above to read). Therein he nicely summarizes the need for space solar power and the evolution of photovoltaic cells that collect and convert solar power into electricity. What is most interesting is that he asserts that by using pure quartzites (citing, “The largest deposits of very pure quartzites are found in Russia, which had vast reserves of them”) that:
Recently the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna, near Moscow, developed a photo cell with an efficiency of almost 50%. Scientists describe their product as a “star battery.” It is an example of how nanotechnology can improve the workings of well-known processes.
Keep in mind that every improvement in efficiency along the collection-delivery pathway improves the business case.
This begs two questions:
1. What are the technical implications of ~50% efficient cells?
2. Does this signal cooperation or competition with the Russians?
On Wednedsay, 1 Aug 2007, I was a guest on “The Space Show” with host Dr David Livingston. David was a superb host and the call-in questions were quite good. Part of the summary that David posted included the following:
“Col. Smith told us why the military is interested in SSP and this is something you need to hear Col. Smith explain. But as you will see, this is a national imperative. Listeners asked many questions about economics, time tables, antennas, frequencies, and more. Questions were asked about space tourism as a possible facilitator as well as ITAR issues.”
Power beaming:What method should be used to broadcast to the ground; microwave or laser?Each has pros and cons.Microwave is certainly safer, but lasers require a relatively small receiver by comparison.Microwave might be best for permanently supplying a city with power, but laser might be better for broadcasting to a location that needs a rapid set-up time…such as part of a disaster relief effort.
Our very good friends at the Marshall Institute are graciously hosting a “Washington Roundtable” discussion here in Washington D.C. on 8 August to discuss space-based solar power. It is open to the public. Jeff Kueter, the president of the institute, asked me to post this inviation to all of you. If you can make it, please attend … and do follow the RSVP instructuctions to be courteous to our hosts!
The details follow:
WASHINGTON ROUNDTABLE ON SCIENCE AND PUBLIC POLICY
Energy from Space:
Examining the Potential of Space
to Provide Energy for Earth
“Because of the enormous cost of addressing global warming, the energy legislation considered by Congress so far will make barely a dent in the problem, while farther-reaching climate proposals stand a remote chance of passage.”
I tend to agree with Mufson.
We must not kid ourselves; nothing is a more farther-reaching climate proposal than space-based solar power. If pursued for that reason alone–especially as a big government program–I believe nothing would come of it. Not to despair. There are many more reasons to develop space-based solar power, and another way of going about it.
