主要信源：NASA 《New Study Updates NASA on Space-Based Solar Power》2024.1.11
Preface
On January 11, 2024, NASA released a report on the official website on "NASA on space-based solar power generation", which proposed that the technology to build power stations in space is feasible.
The Continental Space Power Station project was built ten years ago!
Why is the technologically advanced United States always one step behind the mainland?
The "contradictions" of the report
In recent years, the mainland has developed rapidly in the field of aviation, with the successful launch of Shenzhou 18 on April 25, the space goals set by the mainland have been achieved one by one, and the Beidou satellite has been networked to cover the whole world.
Not only that, in 2014, the mainland also launched the "space power station" project, and the Taineng power station project has achieved a lot of results.
At this point, NASA seemed to be a little unable to sit still, and on January 11 of this year, it published a 108-page analysis of the report on its official website.
The analysis of this report is mainly an analysis report on the sustainable development of American aerospace in the future of space, in which NASA in addition to mentioning the current "space is busy".
He said that the current spacecraft in Earth orbit are very congested and space debris continues to increase due to the frequent increase in low-Earth orbit satellite activities and plans to use satellite constellations, autonomous spacecraft and commercial space destinations.
This should ask Musk's "Starlink plan", which is to launch 42,000 low-earth orbit satellites, which is definitely the main reason for the congestion of space spacecraft.
In addition, a feasibility analysis was conducted on the construction of a power station in space by the United States, and it was analyzed that it is technically possible to realize a space power station.
In addition, we attach great importance to the space power station plan, and hope to attract the attention of the US government and conduct project and research on the US space power station as soon as possible.
He also said that if the U.S. government can set up a project team to conduct research in the near future, then the U.S. has the ability to realize the construction of a U.S. space power station within 20 years.
However, there is a very contradictory point in the report, in addition to proposing that space power stations are good and will allow the United States to achieve sustainable development in the field of space energy, but also saying that the current construction cost of space power stations is 12 to 80 times more than the cost of ordinary power stations on the ground.
This is for sure, after all, the cost of launching a lot of equipment into space will definitely be very expensive, but if it can support the development in the aerospace field, the launch cost of more satellites and spacecraft will definitely be reduced in the future.
Therefore, this is the question of whether the US government is willing to invest as soon as possible, in fact, it is not only the report that contradicts, but also the information on NASA's official website that sometimes sends "contradictory".
In January of this year, NASA also released a "NASA report on pessimism about space-based solar energy", which is pessimistic at one time and suddenly feasible at the other.
However, it also makes sense, pessimism is because the initial investment is too large, so pessimistic, the feasibility of the report plan is the feasibility of the plan, and there seems to be no problem with this question.
So, what exactly is a space power station?
Space power station
The earliest idea of a space power station was proposed in 1920 by Tsiolkovsky, the father of Soviet rocketry, who wanted to launch a giant power station into space.
This idea was revived in the 1941 book Reason by the Russian-Jewish American science fiction writer Isaac Asimov, who proposed wireless transmission through microwaves to transmit electricity over long distances.
It feels like the cost of this writer seems a bit complicated.
Although the idea was first proposed by the Russians, American scientists were also greatly inspired, and after understanding the principle of space power stations, they believed that it was indeed possible to use microwaves or high-power laser equipment to transmit energy.
So during the Cold War with the Soviet Union, the United States began to research on "space power stations", and NASA and the U.S. Department of Energy jointly announced these technologies.
In addition, a project called the "1979 Benchmark System" was introduced, and the goal of this project was very ambitious, especially during the space race, and no one wanted to lose to the other.
The U.S. plan is to meet U.S. energy needs by sending huge amounts of solar panels and microwave emitters into space, and then forming more than 60 5-billion-watt super power stations in space.
However, an idea is an idea, and a plan is a plan.
Due to the huge investment and the technical difficulties of the requirements, this plan did not come to fruition, but the United States does not seem to have given up, and NASA has been continuing to study the feasibility of space power plants.
However, as everyone knows, although the United States first put forward this idea, the United States has not made progress in space power stations.
More reason, it may be that the U.S. government's plan for this space power station is "a large investment in the early stage, and it will be uncertain in the later stage", and it may not be able to achieve the goal, so the progress is slow.
However, as the earth's resources are getting less and less, many countries are facing certain energy crises, especially under the outbreak of multiple oil crises, human beings are also exploring other energy possibilities.
Therefore, the space power station is an advantage and is also reflected, because the solar panels are deployed in space, and they are not yet sequestered by the ozone layer, so the efficiency of space solar power generation will also be better.
Therefore, many countries have begun to study space power stations, especially China, Russia, Japan, and Europe.
Especially in Japan, because of the small land area, large energy loss, and nuclear power generation, they are not good at nuclear power generation, so the research on space power stations is also progressing rapidly, after all, orbital resources are all countries, first come, first served.
The United States also pointed out in the report that the space power station faces cost problems, and the upfront investment is also very large, requiring multiple frequent launches and deployments.
So, is it necessary to build a space power station?
The role of space power stations
Of course it is necessary.
Although it may not change much about the current energy resources of the United States, after all, the United States has made rapid progress in shale oil exploration and technology due to its geographical advantages, and has come out of the current energy dilemma.
Moreover, according to the report released by the United States, the power generation cost of the American space power station is 12 to 80 times that of the ordinary power station in the United States.
But other countries don't think so, especially Japan, which has been promoting research on space power stations and wants to solve Japan's energy problems as soon as possible.
The Japanese government and Japanese corporate research institutes have planned to build a space solar power station in space, 36,000 kilometers above the earth's surface, and this power station can generate one billion watts, which will meet the electricity consumption of 300,000 households in Japan.
However, it will definitely require long-term investment and technical problems, so although countries are working on this aspect, it will take time.
In fact, after the construction of the space power station is completed, in addition to transmitting energy back to the earth through microwaves or lasers, more importantly, it will also be greatly improved in the aerospace field.
This is why NASA has included energy projects such as "space power stations" in the U.S. strategy for sustainable space development.
Because NASA believes that space power stations are the trend, and they are also the "energy stations" of human beings in space in the future, although the early construction cost is high, but the spacecraft and satellites of NASA will reduce more costs in energy in the later stage.
And space power stations can provide more power, so that the United States can do more in space, and in deep space communications, deep space exploration, can get huge energy support.
Therefore, the construction of space power stations is very necessary for space powers, after all, the energy power carried by their own spacecraft and satellites is limited, which can only meet the needs of the "era of space exploration".
As a space power, there is no doubt about the development of the mainland in the field of aerospace in recent years, and "power generation" is still the continent's strong point, so it has also carried out research on space power stations as early as possible.
So, how is the continent's current space power station progressing?
Day-by-day project
The mainland started relatively late, but the study of it has not been interrupted during this period.
Therefore, the continental "space power project" is made up of
The team first published the design plan, and after determining the feasibility of the plan, Continental immediately formed a team.
In 2014, the space power generation project was listed as a major national scientific research project by 16 parts of the mainland, including the Ministry of Science and Technology, so the mainland space power station has developed rapidly.
Therefore, after the mainland decided on the plan, it began to implement the space power station plan, and the space power station plan on the mainland was given a resounding name "day-by-day project."
As the name suggests, solar panels are used to obtain unlimited energy from the sun, which is then transmitted back to Earth and used in the space field.
The mainland's plan has always been very stable, just like the mainland's "manned space flight," and it will certainly be realized step by step and according to the predetermined plan.
Therefore, the mainland space power station project is divided into "three small steps and two big steps", the three small steps are to carry out effective experimental verification of related projects first, and then the two big steps are to move forward quickly and then realize.
After years of technical research, in 2019, the construction of the first solar power station in Chongqing was started, and in 2022, the mainland accepted the "world's first full-link and full-system space solar power station ground system".
This also proves that the mainland's strategy has been steady and steady, and at present, the mainland has not only completed the full-link system, but also made a lot of achievements in energy technology.
In particular, key technologies for space power stations, such as large-scale thin-film deployment structures, high-efficiency unlimited power transmission over long distances, and directional control of beams.
It is precisely because the mainland and some other countries are gradually breaking through the space power stations that the US space agency feels the crisis, so it has a plan to build a space power station as soon as possible.
epilogue
Although the United States took the lead in proposing a plan to build a "space power station", due to various reasons, it was unable to make a breakthrough in its own space power station technology, so the US space agency was in such a hurry to release the report, and it was also hoped that the US government would approve the project as soon as possible.
Moreover, the space power station does not need to consider the light time, as long as it is adjusted, the power supply capacity of the space power station will also be very strong.
Resources:
Xidian University's "Congratulations!" "Daily Project" scientific research progress report was selected into the "2023 China's Top Ten Scientific and Technological Progress News" 2024.1.11
China Daily's "Congratulations!" "Daily Project" scientific research progress report was selected into the "Top Ten Scientific and Technological Progress News in China in 2023", June 15, 2022
NASA《New Study Updates NASA on Space-Based Solar Power》2024.1.11