Caltech's Space Solar Power Project in Detail
What did Caltech's programme set out to do, what did its first flight show and why does it matter?
Chapter summary
Caltech's Space Solar Power Project, funded largely by a philanthropic gift from Donald Bren and Brigitte Bren, set out to make space solar power affordable by radically cutting mass: ultralight, flexible tiles that combine solar cells and microwave transmitters, folded for launch and unfolded in orbit into large, flat arrays.
Key takeaways
- 1
Its first flight, SSPD-1, launched in January 2023 on a Momentus Vigoride spacecraft, carried three experiments: MAPLE, which beamed microwave power between arrays in orbit and sent a detectable beam to a receiver on Caltech's roof; DOLCE, a deployable structure; and ALBA, a test of many types of solar cell in the space environment.
- 2
The flight delivered milliwatts, not kilowatts, but it was the first demonstration of controllable wireless power transfer in space by a low-mass phased array.
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