Electricity will be supplied from space to Earth? If you said this a few years ago, even scientists would start laughing. But now it is not so. Many countries including America, China, and Japan are moving towards achieving such capability in the coming years. A British startup is also going to do electricity supply from space to Earth through satellites present in space by 2030. This company wants to start Electricity supplied From Space to Earth in Iceland by sending the first demonstrator satellite by 2030. If it is successful, then this will be the first incident of this renewable energy source in the world.
This space solar power project is a partnership between the UK’s Space Solar, Reykjavik Energy, and Iceland’s sustainability initiative Transition Labs. The company plans to launch the first satellite in the next six years which will emit a beam of 30 megawatts of clean energy on Earth. This much power can light up about 3,000 houses. Energy will be sent from the satellite in the form of high-frequency radio waves. Receiving antennas installed on the ground will collect this energy convert it into electricity and send it to the power grid.
No matter what the weather, there will be a 24×7 power supply from space:
This satellite will be about 400 meters wide including solar panels. According to the report, the satellite can weigh 70.5 tons. It will orbit the planet in medium Earth orbit. This orbit is a near-space region at an altitude between 2,000 and 36,000 kilometers.
The partnership aims to build a fleet of six such space-based solar power stations by 2036. This fleet will be able to supply several gigawatts of clean electricity to people on Earth 24×7, regardless of the weather. By the mid-2040s, these power plants in space can be capable of supplying more than 15 gigawatts of energy.
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How much will it cost? There will be no fault:
According to Space Solar, the first power plant will cost $800 million to build. The company said that this system will provide electricity at a rate of about one-fourth the cost of nuclear power, i.e. $2.25 billion per gigawatt.
Unlike photovoltaics and wind turbines on Earth, satellite power plants will not have the problem of intermittent power generation. This is a major drawback of traditional renewable energy generation. These satellites will produce electricity continuously regardless of the time of day or weather conditions.
Musk’s company will carry this satellite:
According to the plan made by Space Solar, each 30 MW solar farm will be delivered to orbit in a single launch by SpaceX’s Starship mega-rocket. SpaceX is the aerospace company of the world’s richest man, Elon Musk. With the ability to carry up to 165 tons of payload to low Earth orbit, Starship has significantly reduced the cost of launch.
