Checkout the trailer for the upcoming documentary The High Frontier: The Untold Story of Gerard K. O’Neill which was shown for the first time yesterday on the live stream of Yuri’s Night annual celebration party. The trailer begins with an introduction by Rick Tumlinson at 2:57.
New space solar power company down under
Solar Space Technologies (SST), a recently-formed Australian company, is planning the development of a solar power satellite (SPS) system to provide electricity for Australia. The new company is developing the technology for deployment of an SPS, ground receiver sites and associated infrastructure. SST’s system would generate a total capacity of at least 18 gigawatts for the Australian electricity market which could also potentially be exported to other countries. In less than a decade, SST proposes the creation of an Australia-US public/private partnership, with additional participation by Japan, Canada, New Zealand and others for development of the SPS. A downloadable Executive Summary Brochure is available from the company website.
A trip back in time
A nostalgic view from 1991 brought to you by my old newsletter Space Colonization Progress. Ahhhh memories!
Update: all issues of SCP are now available on the Vintage page
At last: a plan for demonstration of space solar power technology
Stars and Stripes reports that the Air Force Research Laboratory in partnership with Northrop Grumman is planning a Space Solar Power Incremental Demonstration. No word on when flight hardware will be ready, but this is the first initiative of which I am aware that actual space technology demonstration is in the works.
Although the project’s primary objectives are intended to augment military operations with beamed power from space to remote bases, the technology has potential commercial applications as a power source for isolated communities worldwide.
SSI 50: The Space Settlement Enterprise videos now available
National Space Society issues position paper on Space Solar Power
Download the paper here: https://space.nss.org/media/NSS-Position-Paper-Space-Solar-Power-2019.pdf
NSS to host Policy Forum on Space Settlement at ISDC June 6
Advances in Space Based Solar Power
Caltech researchers have come up with an innovative lightweight tile assembly that combines collection of solar energy, conversion to microwaves and transmission of the power via an antenna. The modular design can be combined into an array enabling transmission of power where it is needed in space. Combining these three functionalities into scalable modular units is a significant development toward realization of space based solar power.
Check out the AIAA paper here: http://www.its.caltech.edu/~sslab/PUBLICATIONS/Gdoutos%20et%20al%202018.pdf