{"id":9420,"date":"2025-06-19T07:50:08","date_gmt":"2025-06-19T11:50:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/?p=9420"},"modified":"2026-07-01T13:26:04","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T17:26:04","slug":"its-impossible-with-current-technology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/its-impossible-with-current-technology\/9420\/","title":{"rendered":"Space-based solar power could cut UK energy costs by \u00a34 billion a year but NASA says current technology can&#8217;t make it happen"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/news\/uk-shoots-for-the-stars-as-space-based-solar-power-prepares-for-lift-off\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Being part of big historic<\/a> moments is extremely special, and one cannot help to feel a sense of pride when thinking about it. Big, historic projects include the Great Pyramid of Giza, Dubailand, and the International Space Station. Our generation was bound to be part of the next biggest project in history, but the current technology has made it impossible. Unfortunately, this big, historic project might have to be delayed for a very long time.<\/p>\n<h2>The next biggest project in history<\/h2>\n<p>Our planet revolves around the sun, and our zero-carbon goals revolve around renewable energies, such as solar energy. The challenge is to finalize the transition to renewable energies whilst meeting the ever-increasing global demand for energy. One possible solution that will be deemed <strong>the next biggest project<\/strong> in history is space-based solar power.<\/p>\n<p>The concept is simple enough; space-based systems would harness solar energy from the Earth&#8217;s orbit and beam the energy back to Earth to various remote areas around the globe to supply additional power to the grid. Space-based solar power would theoretically solve many challenges of traditional renewables.<\/p>\n<p>The disadvantages of <strong>traditional renewables include<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8216;Low-density&#8217; renewables require intensive mineral mining and refining<\/li>\n<li>Dependency on mineral supply from Chinese production<\/li>\n<li>Herculean expansion in grid transmission pylons and connecting cables is required<\/li>\n<li>Power output is limited due to changing weather conditions and nighttime<\/li>\n<li>Suitable storage capacity is required at high costs<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>The project will revolutionize the renewable energy sector<\/h2>\n<p>Space-based solar power will revolutionize the renewable energy sector. Besides solving so many challenges that traditional renewables face, it also includes many advantages of its own. According to <em>PhysicsWorld<\/em>, space-based solar power includes <strong>the following advantages<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Ability to harvest unlimited solar energy due to no varying weather conditions and transitions from day to night<\/li>\n<li>Space-based solar panels produce 13 times more power than traditional panels<\/li>\n<li>Beaming energy to Earth as microwaves has minimal energy loss<\/li>\n<li>Delivers baseload power to the grid 24\/7<\/li>\n<li>Ability to supply predictable, unvarying output<\/li>\n<li>Ability to supply scalable power to the globe<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>According to a study conducted by Imperial College London researchers, 8 gigawatts of space-based solar power would cut the UK&#8217;s system costs by <strong>more than \u00a34 billion annually<\/strong>. This is just another indication of how <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/first-ever-orbital-solar-plant\/8943\/\">economical and reliable space-based solar power<\/a> could be to the globe. Unfortunately, it seems as if our historical project could be delayed for a significant period of time.<\/p>\n<h2>Technology could be delaying the historical moment<\/h2>\n<p>Not everyone is on board for the biggest project in history, including NASA. NASA&#8217;s Office of Technology, Policy, and Strategy issued a report based on the viability of space-based solar power. According to the report, the construction of such a power system will face<strong> numerous technological limitations<\/strong>, such as:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Requiring technology to have it function autonomously in space<\/li>\n<li>Power-beaming efficiency will have to be enhanced to transmit energy to Earth<\/li>\n<li>Feasible ways to construct and maintain these massive systems in orbit<\/li>\n<li>Improving the operating life by 10 years<\/li>\n<li>High launch and construction costs<\/li>\n<li>Operating in the geostationary orbit has additional hurdles of its own<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>While it may not necessarily take a whole century <strong>before NASA gets on board<\/strong> with space-based solar energy, it might still take some time. Per the former NASA physicist and the inventor of SPS Alpha, John Mankins, NASA is most likely hesitant to join the fan club, as they primarily focus on space technology and exploration, and not Earth&#8217;s power supply. NASA executives most likely believe that being directed by Congress would decrease funding for their main priorities<\/p>\n<p>NASA might still take some convincing, however, that has not slowed down other innovative supporters of space-based solar energy. There have been a few breakthroughs already, and many believe that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/goodbye-to-photovoltaics-japan-space\/7758\/\">Earth will be powered from space soon<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><em>Disclaimer: Our coverage of events affecting companies is purely informative and descriptive. Under no circumstances does it seek to promote an opinion or create a trend, nor can it be taken as investment advice or a recommendation of any kind.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Being part of big historic moments is extremely special, and one cannot help to feel a sense of pride when thinking about it. Big, historic projects include the Great Pyramid of Giza, Dubailand, and the International Space Station. Our generation was bound to be part of the next biggest project in history, but the current &#8230; <a title=\"Space-based solar power could cut UK energy costs by \u00a34 billion a year but NASA says current technology can&#8217;t make it happen\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/its-impossible-with-current-technology\/9420\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Space-based solar power could cut UK energy costs by \u00a34 billion a year but NASA says current technology can&#8217;t make it happen\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":9425,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_focus_keyword":"technology,space-based solar power","rank_math_title":"","rank_math_description":"Our generation was bound to be part of the next biggest project in history, but the current technology has made it impossible, delaying it until next century.","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9420"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9420\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}