Space Solar Power

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Space Solar Power Library

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Space-Based Solar Power As an Opportunity for Strategic Security. Report to the National Security Space Office, October 2007, 75 pages.
Executive Summary [HTML]
Full report [PDF 3.5 MB]

Ad Astra Special Report on Space-Based Solar Power - Spring 2008

Sun Power: The Global Solution for the Coming Energy Crisis, by Ralph Nansen. "Sun Power will help to show that energy from space is a realistic proposal and that it has great commercial potential" (Chris Kraft, former director, Johnson Space Center). "Nansen presents the rationale for solar power satellites in an understandable form devoid of the usual technical jargon to make the subject accessible to the public" (Dr. Peter E. Glaser, inventor of the solar power satellite concept). "The time is again right to bring this very important energy option to the attention of the American public" (Joseph P. Allen, former Space Shuttle astronaut).

Space Power, by G. Harry Stine. Online copy of a 1981 book that provides a comprehensive look at the implicatons of space solar power, written by a participant in the Department of Energy Satellite Power System Concept Development and Evaluation Program.

Space Solar Power Video Library:

Space Solar Power: Exploring New Frontiers for Tomorrow's Energy Needs - NASA video, 2001 (1 hour 47 minutes)
Electricity from Orbit: The Case for R & D - 55-minute video presentation by Marty Hoffert, Professor Emeritus of Physics at New York University (December 5, 2007)

Satellite Power System Concept Development and Evaluation Program. Conducted by the Department of Energy (DOE) and NASA from 1978 to 1981, this study remains the largest to date. We will slowly be adding documents to this section during 2008 as we can get them digitized. This study was limited to an Earth-launched scenario. See press briefing about this study for a quick summary.

Lunar Resources Utilization for Space Construction. Study conducted for NASA by General Dynamics Convair Division in 1979 concluded that lunar resources could supply 90% of the material for power satellite production and become cost effective if more than 30 satellites are produced. A nice summary of this study appears in Toward Distant Suns, Chapter 8.
Volume 1 Executive Summary (68 pages) PDF 3.8 MB
Volume 2 Study Results (486 pages) PDF 21 MB
Volume 3 Appendices (408 pages) PDF 14 MB

Solar Power Satellites. Office of Technology Assessment, August 1981. 297 pages. Evaluation of the DOE/NASA studies. [PDF 5.5 MB]

Electric Power from Orbit: A Critique of a Satellite Power System. National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences, 1981, 356 pages. Evaluation of the DOE/NASA studies. See article Press Misinterprets NRC Report on SPS and discussion of this report in Sun Power, Chapter 8.
Electric Power from Orbit - Part 1 - Report (185 pages) PDF 15.5 MB
Electric Power from Orbit - Part 2 - Appendices (173 pages) PDF 14.8 MB

Laying the Foundation for Space Solar Power: An Assessment of NASA's Space Solar Power Investment Strategy. National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences, 2001, 95 pages. An evaluation of NASA's Space Solar Power (SSP) Exploratory Research and Technology (SERT) program conducted in 1999-2000. [PDF 5.7 MB] [HTML] [buy hard copy].

Silent Power - Available chapters from a forthcoming book by the Space Solar Power Workshop at the Georgia Institute of Technology. 204 pages currently available.

European Space Agency papers on space solar power

International Union of Radio Science (URSI) White Paper on Solar Power Satellite (SPS) Systems (2007) [HTML], with Supporting Document, 63 pages [PDF 1.5 MB] and Appendices, 67 pages [PDF 1.9 MB]. If these off-site links fail, try this one.

Additional Papers

1985: Solar Power Satellite Built of Lunar Materials. Space Research Associates study for the Space Studies Institute. Provided courtesy of Space Studies Institute. 100 pages. [PDF 1.5 MB]
1997: A Fresh Look at Space Solar Power: New Architectures, Concepts, and Technologies. John C. Mankins. International Astronautical Federation IAF-97-R.2.03. 12 pages. [PDF 629K] [HTML]
2000: Final Report NSF-NASA Workshop on Autonomous Construction and Manufacturing for Space Electrical Power Systems. 51 pages. [PDF 268K]
2004: Reinventing the Solar Power Satellite. Geoffrey A. Landis. NASA/TM-2004-212743. 35 pages. [PDF 399K]
... MORE

2008 International Space Development Conference

1620 I (Eye) Street NW, Suite 615, Washington, DC 20006
Tel: (202) 429-1600 -- FAX: (202) 463-8497 -- E-mail: nsshq@nss.org
Direct questions about membership matters to: members@nss.org

H Last updated on Thu, Mar 27, 2008 at 18:49:07