Solar Power Satellites: A Rational Technical and Policy Strategy for a New Millennium
- Paper number
IAC-07-C3.1.09
- Author
Ms. Danielle Adams, Massachussets Institute of Technology (MIT), United States
- Year
2007
- Abstract
Since the late 1960s, there has been interest in the United States, and later in other nations, to capture solar energy in space and efficiently transmit it back to Earth. Starting with his seminal paper in 1968, Dr. Peter Glaser began architecting a prototype system which was further explored by the US Department of Energy in the Concept Development and Evaluation Program. Energy economics and the lack of a reliable, high frequency space launch capability brought most research to a halt in the 1990s. This paper proposes an original and rational strategy with both technical and policy components to restart Solar Power Satellite (SPS) research in the United States. It provides a realistic 30 year timeline for program milestones and analyzes potential technical performance including challenges associated with deployment/launch tempo and space habitation. Major policy and societal issues are explored particularly with regard to stakeholder concerns. The integrated analysis shows that funding must be explicitly budgeted to address policy issues as well as technical issues throughout the process in order to ensure mission success. The result of implementing the proposed strategy enables the US to deploy a SPS network promptly following the maturation of certain key technologies.
- Abstract document