By Jeff Foust, Published by SpaceNews, 28 May 2022 WASHINGTON — NASA is starting a study to reexamine the viability of space-based solar power, a long-touted solution to providing power from space that may be getting new interest thanks to technological advances and pushes for clean energy. In a presentation
By Theresa Hitchens,Published by Breaking Defense, 26 May 2022 SSPIDR consists of several small-scale flight experiments that will mature technology needed to build a prototype solar power distribution system. WASHINGTON: Northrop Grumman is nearing the next ground test of the Air Force Research Laboratory’s far-out space-based solar power project, including
By Tereza Pultarova, Published by Space.com, 11 May 2022 The U.K. is getting serious about beaming solar power. The United Kingdom is getting serious about beaming solar power from space and thinks it could have a demonstrator in orbit by 2035. Over 50 British technology organizations, including heavyweights such as
By Theresa Hitchens, Published by Breaking Defense, 27 December 2021 Among all the space action over the past year, AFRL's push to expand military space operations to cislunar space — the vast volume of space between the Earth's outer orbit and that of the Moon — and beyond has been
By Nancy Atkinson, Universe Today, Published by Scitechdaily, 20 November 2021 Even after 30 months in space, The Planetary Society’s LightSail 2 mission continues to successfully “sail on sunbeams” demonstrating solar sail technology in Earth orbit. The mission is providing hard data for future missions that hope to employ solar
By Sandra Erwin, Published by Space News, 30 July 2021 RSA won an SBIR contract funded by the Space Force to design a spacecraft with a solar-thermal propulsion system. WASHINGTON — A startup under contract to the U.S. Space Force is investigating the use of solar-powered vehicles for operations in
