Our Mission: To create the landscape and conditions for commercial Space-Based Solar Power technology by the U.S. to become successful and self-sustaining.

SBSP Bulletin

Space Frontier Foundation Updates

The Space Frontier Foundation has produced and delivered a transition document for the incoming President and his space team.
We are also working on language that would be incorporated into the National Defense Authorization Act of 2025 that would help to advance Space based Solar Power.

Other Notable Updates

DARPA's Persistent Optical Wireless Energy Relay (POWER) project uses lasers to transmit energy over long distances, particularly valuable in remote or challenging environments where fuel delivery is impractical. While there are challenges like efficiency losses during energy conversion and transmission, advancements in laser wavelengths, fiber optic technology, and safety systems driving improvements, with researchers targeting 30-50% efficiency. Eliminating the need for battery changes, this project shares SBSP's vision for wireless energy harness and transfer.
The recent Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) launch of the Space Power InfraRed Regulation and Analysis of Lifetime (SPIRRAL) experiment will test the performance of Variable Emissivity Materials that regulate heat absorption and emission in the infrared spectrum, crucial for thermal management on all spacecraft as well as in particular AFRL's Space Solar Power Incremental Demonstrations and Research (SSPIDR) project.
Solestial, an SBSP startup that began at Arizona State University, has recently announced a new partnership with the manufacturing software firm Manufacturo, in order to ramp up production. In addition to procuring NASA and Air Force contracts, they have also partnered with Meyer Burger Technology to reach the 1 megawatt of annual capacity by 2025. Solestial's technology could eventually be used for space-to-Earth solar power transmission, which is being explored by other projects like SSPIDR.
Virtus Solis has advanced past the reviewer feedback stage next round of ARPA-E's Funding Opportunity Announcement, with an update in January.
Starship demonstrated a successful sixth test flight further validating the previous test flight's flight profile and eventually being able to land the upper-stage booster as well, crucial for launching the large SBSP satellites. SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell has recently predicted that "Starship obsoletes Falcon 9 and the Dragon capsule...And we will have flown it so many more times."
Dr. Tate represented Virtus Solis at the recent CONFERS Global Satellite Servicing Forum & Exhibition in Arlington, leading the Missions & Ecosystems Roadmap Workgroup.

Promising SBSP Use Cases

Photo Credit: Washington Post

Washington Post: Data center demands strain everyday customers

Tech giants like Google and Amazon are aggressively expanding their artificial intelligence capabilities, leading to the rapid construction of large-scale data centers. These facilities consume vast amounts of electricity to power and cool those computers. This growing energy demand significantly strains local power grids, requiring costly upgrades to maintain reliability. These additional costs then fall on consumers in these areas, who now face higher electric bills. SBSP has potential to bolster power grids, increase reliability, and lower the burden for consumers in regions hosting energy-intensive industries.

Reuters: Electric vehicles (EVs) cause huge jumps in energy demands

The rapid growth in EV electricity consumption has significantly increased demand for electricity at home and public charging ports, with US EV electricity use surged 45% in 2023 compared to 2022, reaching 7.6 million megawatt-hours (MWh), and continued to rise by over 50% in early 2024. California led with 34% of the nation’s total consumption, followed by Florida, Texas, New York, and Washington, while states like Oklahoma saw growth as high as 74% year-over-year. As EVs now make up 16% of all light-duty vehicle sales in the US, utilities face increasing strain to maintain round-the-clock availability for charging and provide expanded networks of public chargers. SBSP could be a supplementary solution providing consistent, renewable energy supply to support the growth of EV infrastructure and creating a sustainable energy future for transportation.

SBSP Coverage in the News

Experts and Advocates on SBSP

Space Solar co-CEO Martin Soltau's Physics World article tackles skeptical views on SBSP from NASA's January report and Henri Barde's IEEE Spectrum article. Soltau shares what makes SBSP is uniquely scalable and not constrained by weather, as opposed to other renewable energy solutions on the market, in part due to Space Solar's advancements with CASSIOPeiA. He also breaks down the assumptions made in both NASA's report and Barde's article underlying their conclusions that SBSP is not technologically and economically feasible.
SFF advocate David Steitz writes that the new Trump administration may be conducive for a return to NASA's "original mission": developing cutting-edge space technologies to bolster American space leadership and strengthen the American economy.

Photo Credit: Daily Galaxy

Outsiders' Perspectives

Michelle Hampson's IEEE Spectrum article highlights Caltech Professor Hajimiri's research and successful proof-of-concept transmit arrays that serve as "relays" between the satellites that harvest energy and ground-based receivers. Professor Hajimiri notes that while these additional "relays" add to the cost, they increase energy yield and distance between transmitters and receivers as well as potentially lowering their sizes.
Selene Fonseca's YANoticias article discusses the advantages and challenges of SBSP as a sustainable energy solution. The article presents SBSP as an emerging technology that can revolutionize energy generation, offering 13 times the energy efficiency of Earth-based panels. They acknowledge that challenges such as high costs and technical hurdles remain, but advancements in satellite design and international collaboration position SBSP as a scalable and transformative solution for global energy needs and climate action.
Portraying SBSP as a transformative solution to the global energy crisis, Arezki Amiri's Daily Galaxy article articulates both critical concerns about cost and technical feasibility, as well as advancements in satellite design, power-beaming technology, and launch cost reductions. Overall they frame SBSP as a promising, scalable, and forward-thinking investment for a sustainable energy future.

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