KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. – In the near future, solar power collected in space and beamed down to Earth could power military and civilian installations, vehicles, and devices in remote places across the globe. Stars and Stripes reports. Continue reading original article
The Military & Aerospace Electronics take:
28 Aug. 2020 -- The foundational technology is already in hand, and the first small-scale demonstration project will be ready for launch in 2023, thanks to a broad collaboration between the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Space Vehicles Directorate at Kirtland Air Force Base, the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado, and private industry partners.
Apart from providing around-the-clock power on demand beamed from space, the new solar cells, panels and production processes being developed through the program could revolutionize space-based power systems in general and terrestrial photovoltaic installations by offering higher-efficiency systems at much lower cost than is available today.
The potentially game-changing technology could become widely available over the next decade, says U.S. Air Force Col. Eric Felt, head of the Air Force Research Laboratory Space Vehicles Directorate at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M.
Related: Solar-electric propulsion for future deep-space missions is goal of NASA solicitation
John Keller, chief editor
Military & Aerospace Electronics
