Space power: The dream of beaming solar energy from orbit

Harvesting solar energy in orbit and beaming it down to Earth is a decades-old idea. Now,

a growing number of companies say they could finally make it a reality.

At an American football stadium in Florida last March, an unusual test took place. It wasn’t

footballs being thrown, but beams of light fired across the length of the pitch. The concentrated

streaks of light lasted for a few minutes, sent from an emitter on one side of the Jacksonville

Jaguars’ stadium and collected on a screen on the other.

The light had been collected from the Sun and then beamed out by large lenses on the field,

each about 1.2 metres (4ft) tall, acting like magnifying glasses. “We had to get up a ladder to

pull the cover off”, said Andrew Rush, chief executive of the Florida-based company Star Catcher,

which carried out the test. “We beamed 100 watts about 105 metres”.

The goal was simple: to see if sunlight could be beamed across space to power satellites or

even cities on Earth.

Space-based solar power aims to capture sunlight in orbit and _______________ it to the

ground as clean, renewable energy. Solar panels on Earth are limited by the atmosphere, the

weather and the day-night cycle. But in space, sunlight can be collected almost constantly, at

much higher _______________.

He recalled telling his father about the idea, who thought it sounded rather unrealistic. Yet,

as engineer David Homfray explained, “Space-based solar power makes the energy transition

work”. Some estimates suggest it could one day provide up to 80% of Europe’s renewable energy

needs.

Still, making it work is no small task. It would require enormous satellite structures,

complex operations and countless rocket launches. And there are cheaper renewable solutions

that could come online far faster — a crucial point if the world is to replace fossil fuels in time to

limit global warming.

The concept itself is not new. Science-fiction writer Isaac Asimov imagined it in 1941, and

NASA studied it in the 1970s and 1990s. Back then, it was dismissed as too costly and technically

unrealistic. But modern advances in rocket design, robotics and energy transmission have made

it more feasible.

Today, several countries — including the US, the UK, Japan and China — are investing in

prototypes. One approach involves using infrared lasers to beam power to the ground, while

another envisions vast solar stations in orbit that could supply electricity to entire countries.

However, not everyone agrees it’s viable. Critics warn about the risks of increasing space

_______________ and the difficulty of managing thousands of satellites safely. Others question

whether such huge orbital structures would even be legal under international space treaties.

NASA’s recent reports say the technology remains more expensive than terrestrial

renewables, yet progress is undeniable. “Once you make that initial investment”, said Michelle

Hanlon, a space-law expert, “that power is literally free”.

Whether space-based solar power will ever become practical remains uncertain. But for

now, it represents a bold vision of how humanity might one day capture sunlight beyond the

atmosphere — and beam power directly from the stars.

(Available at: www.bbc.com/future/article/20251029-the-beam-dream-should-we-build-solar-farms-in-space– text specially adapted for this test).