BRECKENRIDGE, Colorado – The deployment of space platforms that capture sunlight for
beaming down electrical power to Earth is under review by the Pentagon, as a
way to offer global energy and security benefits – including the prospect of
short-circuiting future resource wars between increasingly energy-starved
nations.
A proposal
is being vetted by U.S. military space strategists that 10 percent of the U.S. baseload of energy by 2050, perhaps sooner, could be produced by space based solar
power (SBSP). Furthermore, a demonstration of the concept is being eyed to
occur within the next five to seven years.
A mix of
advocates, technologists and scientists, as well as legal and policy experts,
took part in Space Based Solar Power – Charting a Course for Sustainable
Energy, a meeting held here September 6-7 and sponsored by the United States
Air Force Academy's Eisenhower Center for Space and Defense Studies and the
Pentagon's National
Security Space Office.
Energy
from space: Tangible commodity
"I
truly believe that space based solar power will become the first sellable, tradable
commodity that's delivered by space that everybody on the planet can have part
of," said Colonel (Select) Michael Smith, Chief, Future Concepts in the
National Security Space Office and director of the SBSP study. To bolster such
a vision, establishing a partnership of government, commercial and
international entities is under discussion, he added, to work on infrastructure
development that, ultimately, culminates in the fielding of space based solar
power.
The U.S.
Department of Defense has an "absolute urgent need for energy," Smith
said, underscoring the concern that major powers around the world – not just
the United States – could end up in a major war of attrition in the 21st
century. "We've got to make sure that we alleviate the energy concerns
around the globe," he said.
"Energy
may well be the first tangible commodity returned from space," said Joseph
Rouge, Associate Director of the National Security Space Office. "Geopolitics
in general is going to be a large issue. I don't think there's any question
that energy is going to be one of the key next issues, along with water ... that's
going to be the competition we're going to fight."
Rouge said
that moving out on the proposed SBSP effort would be the largest space venture
yet, making the Apollo Moon landing project "look like just a small little
program." As a caveat, however, he noted that the U.S. Department of
Defense is cash-strapped and is not the financial backer for such an endeavor.
"But
do look to us to help you develop the technologies and developing a lot of the
other infrastructure," Rouge advised, seeing SBSP, for instance, as helping
to spur a significant reduction in the cost of routine access to space for the
U.S. and its allies.
Trends
of concern
There is a
compelling argument of synergy between energy security, space security and
national security, observed Col. Michael Hornitschek, Co-Chair of the National
Security Space Office Architecture Study on Space Based Solar Power.
Hornitschek
flagged "trends of concern" in dealing with the world-wide energy
challenge, citing global population and escalating energy demands, as well as the
portent of climate change. He also referred to U.S. loss in global market share
and leadership, in addition to declines in research and development investments
and a skilled workforce.
Although space
based solar power has been studied since the 1970s – by the Department of
Energy, NASA, the European Space Agency, as well as the Japan Aerospace
Exploration Agency – Hornitschek said that the idea has generally "fallen
between the cracks" because no organization is responsible for both space
programs and energy security.
Over the
last few decades, the march of technology useful to SBSP has been significant,
said Neville Marzwell, Manager of Advanced Concepts and Technology Innovation
at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
"We
have made tremendous progress in technology from 1977 to 2007," Marzwell
reported. He pointed to advances in micro and nano-electronics, lightweight
inflatable composite structures, ultra-small power management devices, as well
as laboratory demonstration of photovoltaic arrays that are close to 68 percent
conversion efficiency.
Still,
there's work to be done, Marzwell emphasized, specifically in wireless power
beaming. By modularizing SBSP platforms, the work can start small and foster
batch production to keep price per unit costs down while evolving a bigger
energy market, he said.
Home run
kind of situation
Overall,
pushing forward on SBSP "is a complex problem and one that lends itself to
a wide variety of competing solutions," said John Mankins, President of
Artemis Innovation Management Solutions, LLC, in Ashburn, Virginia.
"There's
a whole range of science and technology challenges to be pursued. New knowledge
and new systems concepts are needed in order to enable space based solar power.
But there does not appear, at least at present, that there are any fundamental
physical barriers," Mankins explained.
Peter
Teets, Distinguished Chair of the Eisenhower Center for Space and Defense
Studies, said that SBSP must be economically viable with those economics probably
not there today. "But if we can find a way with continued technology development
... and smart moves in terms of development cycles to bring clean energy from
space to the Earth, it's a home run kind of situation," he told attendees
of the meeting.
"It's
a noble effort," Teets told Space News. There remain uncertainties
in SBSP, including closure on a business case for the idea, he added.
"I
think the Air Force has a legitimate stake in starting it. But the scale of
this project is going to be enormous. This could create a new agency ... who
knows? It's going to take the President and a lot of political will to go
forward with this," Teets said.
Demonstration
via satellite
As current
director of the SBSP study for the National Security Space Office, Smith said
that demonstrations of beamed energy from space – utilizing both breadboard lab
tests and by using space assets – are vital. One possibility is to extrapolate
meaningful lessons from signal transmissions by already orbiting communication
satellites, he said, be they U.S. assets or experiments done with partners
elsewhere around the world.
An orbiting
SBSP demonstration spacecraft must be a useful tool, Smith added, to deliver
energy while retiring science questions and identifying risk areas for next
phase SBSP development. Conceptually, a locale to receive test broadcasts of
beamed energy from space could be Creech Air Force Base in Indian Springs, Nevada, he noted.
Mankins
told Space News that the International Space Station could also be a
venue from which to conduct a whole range of in-space SBSP-related experiments
on relevant component technologies or subsystem technologies. "The space
station is perfect for that," he said, perhaps making use of Japan's
still-to-be-lofted experiment module, Kibo, and its Exposed Facility located
outside of the pressurized module.
To
engage in an open public discussion of space solar power, go to this website
sponsored by the Space Frontier Foundation: http://spacesolarpower.wordpress.com/
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