Why NASA thinks you should forget about space-based solar power
Why NASA thinks you should forget about space-based solar power
by The_Weekend_Baker
Why NASA thinks you should forget about space-based solar power
Why NASA thinks you should forget about space-based solar power
by The_Weekend_Baker
6 comments
It does seem like a hassle compared to just slapping solar panels on my garage for the cost of a used car to cover about all my electricity needs. I haven’t done it yet, but with a loan through my state I’d be saving $50 a month net just about.
Yes, never made the slightest sense to me. Even less than fusion.
Oh yeah….totally trust Boeing to build an orbiting solar array that won’t turn into a death ray
I agree that it will never make economic sense.
There could be some useful applications for the military.
The military is facing some very interesting challenges from the energy transition. A huge underappreciated part of sustaining military operations is getting energy (primarily types of gasoline) to forces deployed around the world. I saw this first hand in Iraq, where a fairly large portion of our forces was dedicated to protecting supply convoys. This gasoline was used both for vehicles and for massive diesel generators that powered the small cities that were our bases.
The global stock of refineries is set to fall over the next few decades as the world depends less on hydrocarbons. It’s going to be harder and harder to source these hydrocarbons in random corners of the globe in conflict situations. Finding alternatives will be important for national security, even if the price is high.
I support space based solar for a variety of reasons. I mean it shouldn’t replace developing solar panels on earth, but there are advantages that go beyond economics. Going to space at all was never an economical decision. It cost money with no forseeable payoff. It’s got a lot of economic benefits now, 5 decades on, with satellite technology and other advancements. We’ve largely forgotten that we invest in things because it pushes our knowledge and abilities, and that we can’t economically predict what we don’t even conceive of. I think NASA especially has lost a lot of that drive to do things, not because they’re economically viable and easy, but because they’re hard.
Solar in space on a scale like this would force us to innovate towards much bigger technological challenges that would have far reaching impacts that we literally cannot put a dollar value to right now, so of course they’ll look bad on paper. For instance, a project like this could involve automated mining and manufacturing in space. A lunar base turning moon regolith into panels and then magnetic launching to earth orbit. It could involve solar grid balancing, with receivers between countries and regions and doing more with less as the panels beam when and where it’s needed across the planet. We don’t know what other technologies and innovations we’ll develop along the way to solve a big project like this and how they’ll benefit.
Why not place on at the lagrangian and help act as a sun shade?