Karmactive Staff
Space Solar, a UK aerospace startup, targets beaming 30 megawatts of solar power from a staggering 35,786 kilometers above Earth directly to Iceland by 2030.
Photo Source: pxhere (CC0 1.0)
The power of space: geosynchronous orbit offers 24/7 access to unfiltered sunlight, making it possible to continuously generate solar energy for Earth-based use.
Photo Source: Diego Giron
Solar power beaming 101: Space Solar’s system transforms sunlight into DC power, then into radio waves beamed down to Earth, converting it back into usable electricity with 18% end-to-end efficiency.
With antennas capable of 360-degree electronic beam steering, Space Solar’s tech can aim solar beams precisely at various points without any moving parts—a first in the field.
Photo Source: rocbolt (CC BY-NC 2.0)
Massive infrastructure: each Space Solar satellite will weigh 2,000 tonnes and measure 1.7 kilometers wide, fifteen times the size of the ISS, creating the largest space structure in history.
Photo Source: NASA (CC BY-NC 2.0)
An oval ground station spanning 6 by 13 kilometers will receive the beams from orbit, needing only 8% of the land that a comparable wind farm would require.
Photo Source: European Space Agency (CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO)
Space Solar is pushing to drop power costs to below $0.03/kWh, though NASA projects that space solar could run 12–80 times higher than Earth-based renewables.
Photo Source: NASA (CC BY 2.0)
The ambitious timeline aims for a 1-kilowatt test within three years, scaling to 30 megawatts in 2030, gigawatts by 2036, and a goal of 15GW by the 2040s.
Space Solar's choice of Iceland as its first power recipient raises eyebrows since the country already generates 25% of its power from geothermal sources, yet surging data demands could justify the extra energy supply.
Photo Source: Scott Ableman (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
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