Navy Testing Solar Power Beaming Tech in Space
RandomFactor writes:
The United States Navy is testing power beaming satellite technology.
Recently, one of [the] groups at America's Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) hit a milestone in the development of power satellite technology by launching their Photovoltaic RF Antenna Module (PRAM) test satellite.
The idea underlying power satellites is called "power beaming". Power beaming systems use one of three different frequencies of light to transmit significant amounts of power over a distance wirelessly. Last year NRL had a successful demonstration of a land-based power beaming system using an infrared laser.
Doing it from space presents a whole new set of challenges though, and not necessarily just technical ones. Dr Paul Jaffe, the technical lead on the PRAM project, described the process of being selected for an orbital launch as equivalent to Shark Tank - numerous PIs pitching their ideas for a trip to orbit. After several years of trying, PRAM finally got it's time to shine on an X-37B launch on May 17th.
PRAM won't actually shine though - it's surface is covered in black solar panels, and its innards consist of the first hardware ever launched to orbit that converts solar energy into microwaves.
Although it won't actually beam power back to Earth, the 30cm PRAM satellite will test and gather metrics to compare with Earth based systems, including
- Efficiency of conversion of solar energy to microwaves
- Thermal management using the radiative cooling system
- Power Density
- Base station design
- Optimal Illumination orbit
Addressing fears around use of the platform as a weapon, Dr. Jaffe notes "If you put a magnifying glass in front of your WiFI router, it doesn't start melting anything."
Related:
China Plans Space-Based Solar Power Stations
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