China will build a gigantic solar panel in space – which will be capable of providing more energy in one year than all the oil on Earth.
China announced a plan to build a solar power station in space, one kilometer wide.
The structure will be made to continuously transport energy to Earth using microwaves. It is expected to be capable of providing more energy in a year than all the oil in the world.
The project, whose components will be taken to a geostationary orbit above the Earth via super-heavy rockets, has been dubbed the “Three Gorges Dam above the Earth”.
The , located in the middle of the Yangtze River in central China, is the largest hydroelectric project in the world and generates 100 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity per year.
But the new project would be even more ambitious. The promise is made by the brain of the operation, Long Lehaowho, in statements to , stated that “the energy collected in a year by [Três Gargantas Espaciais] would be equivalent to the total amount of oil that can be extracted from the Earth”.
However, as noted by , China is not the only country planning to build solar satellites. US companies Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, the European Space Agency (ESA) and Japanese space agency JAXA have also been investigating the technology, with the latter scheduled to launch a small proof-of-concept satellite this year to assess its viability.
Despite recent advances, the technology faces some fundamental limitations – such as intermittent cloud cover and the fact that most of the atmosphere absorbs solar radiation before it reaches the ground.
Scientists have a number of space-based solar power (SBSP) technologies available, which are based on collecting and continuously transmitting sunlight energy in space, where it is 10 times more intense than on Earth’s surface.
Building a suitably giant set would require many launches, meaning most proposals failed to get off the ground.
This is where China distinguishes itself
Unlike other agencies, the China National Space Administration guarantees that it is ready to overcome these challenges.
Long Lehao and the team he leads are working on developing the reusable rocket Long March-9 (CZ-9)which will have a lifting capacity of at least 150 tons.
In addition to being used for satellites, the rocket will also be fundamental to China’s plans to reach the Moon – where it intends to build an international lunar research base by 2035.
