German firm to demonstrate in-orbit solar panel manufacturing in 2027

3 comments

1. Well, more like assembly.

   For large scale energy transmission projects like beamed energy back to the earth, it’s likely that mirror arrays combined with a rotating transmission station like the one in 2001 a Space Odyssey functioning as a giant flywheel in space would be a lower cost option compared to photovoltaics.

   In either case, you need a lunar base first because that’s the cheaper way to get massive amounts of material into Earth orbit.

2. >the in-space manufacturing system utilizes a highly compact, flexible, ultrathin soft solar blanket that unrolls in orbit.

   >At the same time, a 3D printer creates a rigid back structure directly onto the array membrane. The resin cures rapidly and hardens under the strong UV radiation in space.

   I’m willing to ask a dumb question here: why is the rigidity needed in the first place? And/or how much rigidity is needed to maintain position relative to the satellite?

3. Regarding the general concept of space based solar: The Real Engineering Youtube Channel just dropped an episode on the concept a few hours ago.](https://youtu.be/Vf_pS0XSTyo?si=yjMs6qY9bcFxYbjZ) They produce consistently excellent content with a focus on aerospace.

   Space based solar is realistic, but it is difficult to say if it is competitive with ground based PV, wind, and batteries. However, it is worth pointing out that in the year 2000, most analysts predicted that PV and battery cost per watt would eb 20X to 100X what we currently pay. They would also did expect orbital launch cost to be what it is now, or something like Starlink to be in place.

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