Earth receives energy from a satellite for the first time – DW – 02/15/2024

The futuristic idea of ​​sending solar energy to Earth is now a reality. Since June last year, a space experiment has been transmitting power to Earth through the solar panels of an orbiting satellite.

With its MAPLE (Microwave Array Low Orbit Energy Transfer Experiment) experiment, the Space Solar Power Demonstrator (SSPD) has demonstrated that it is possible to transfer energy in space and from space to Earth. This is the first time solar energy has been transmitted from orbit and could be the first step towards creating a power plant. Solar energy in the space.

First launched in January 2023, the device was capable of transmitting the equivalent of 100 milliwatts of energy through space after just two months, and can easily be refocused to send the beam in any direction. In the test of transmitting power to Earth, the power that reached our planet was about 1 milliwatt, and was performed three times over an eight-month period.

Vast potential for the future

The idea is to create a constellation of modular spacecraft about one kilometer in size, which can transmit enough energy to power 10,000 homes. The individual satellites, each one cubic meter in size, will be deployed in a flat square 50 meters long on each side with solar cells on one side and microwave transmitters on the other.

Since MAPLE can send power in any direction, the idea is that it can send power and energy directly to a remote location or during an emergency, because it does not require transmission infrastructure.

“Just as the Internet has democratized access to information, we hope wireless power transmission will democratize access to energy,” Ali Hajimiri, lead researcher and co-director of the SSPP, said last year.

“No power transmission infrastructure on Earth will be needed to receive this energy. This means that we will be able to send power to remote areas and areas devastated by war or natural disasters.”

The SSPD has other components being tested with MAPLE: DOLCE (Deployable On-Orbit Ultralight Composite Experiment), which tests the spacecraft's architecture deployment structure, and ALBA, which tests the best type of photovoltaic cell to use. Their results have not yet been published, but they are critical components for SSPD.

ee (iflscience, arvix, new scientists)