The United States: NASA, Caltech, AFRL and DARPA
What has the US done on space-based solar power, and what did NASA's cost study conclude?
Chapter summary
US work is spread across agencies and universities.
Key takeaways
- 1
NASA's Office of Technology, Policy and Strategy published a sober cost assessment in January 2024: two 2 GW reference designs operating from around 2050 would produce electricity at about $0.61 and $1.59 per kWh, ten to thirty times terrestrial renewables, with launch 71–77% of cost; only a combination of favourable assumptions brought costs to 4–8 cents.
- 2
Caltech's Space Solar Power Project flew SSPD-1 in 2023 and beamed power in orbit and to a detector on Earth.
- 3
AFRL's SSPIDR programme is building the Arachne tile experiment.
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The United Kingdom: Studies, Competitions and Space Solar
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