Caltech Demonstrates Space Based Solar

Next Big Future  June 6, 2023
Researchers at Caltech launched Space Solar Power Project (SSPD) launched into orbit a prototype to beam power to Earth and that transmitted power from orbit to another receiver in orbit. They confirmed that MAPLE (Microwave Array for Power-transfer Low-orbit Experiment) can transmit power successfully to receivers in space. They programed the array to direct its energy toward Earth. It could survive the trip to space and operate there. Microwave Array for Power-transfer Low-orbit Experiment (MAPLE) and one of the three key experiments within SSPD-1 includes a small window through which the array can beam the energy. The next steps for the team are to assess the performance of individual elements within the system. A future Caltech design will have individual SSPP units to fold up into packages about 1 cubic meter in volume and then unfurl into flat squares about 50 meters per side, with solar cells on one side facing toward the sun and wireless power transmitters on the other side facing toward Earth… read more.