The 110lb SSPD prototype was launched into space on the Transporter-6 mission, which lifted off from Cape Canaveral on Tuesday 3 January 2023.
The demonstrator is part of the Caltech Space Solar Power Project (SSPP). The scientists behind the mission have designed three experiments to test several key components of an ambitious plan to harvest solar power in space and beam the energy back to Earth.
Satellites in geosynchronous orbit receive sunlight for more than 99 per cent of the time – as they are not subjected to the cycles of a day and changes in weather – and at a much greater intensity than solar panels on Earth, making them a much more efficient source of energy.
The launch of SSPD is the first step on a mission that could see the deployment of a constellation of space solar panels that could measure over half a mile wide. These will form a space power station that would be able to transform sunlight into electricity and wirelessly transmit...