Solar Power Satellite (SPS) Encyclopedia: Complete Coverage of All Aspects of Space-based Solar Energy, History and Current Concepts, Security Implications, GEO, Rectennas, Microwaves and Lasers

This comprehensive ebook provides authoritative information on every aspect of solar power satellites (SPS). Nineteen reports and documents are presented in Chronological Order (1975 - 2013) and provide extraordinary detail about proposed solar satellite designs and concepts. Contents: Solar Power Satellite System Definition Study * Satellite Power System Concept Development and Evaluation Program Reference System Report * NASA: Solar Power Satellite - Power from Space... A New Opportunity * Lunar Resources Utilization for Space Construction * On The Military Implications of a Satellite Power System - A Working Paper * Satellite Power Systems Concept Development and Evaluation Program Assessment Report Statement of Findings * The Final Proceedings of the Solar Power Satellite Program Review * Solar Power Satellites * ASPEC — Solar Power Satellite * NASA'S Study of Space Solar Power - House Hearing * Space Solar Power Satellite Technology Development at the Glenn Research Center - An Overview * Solar Power Constellations - Implications for the United States Air Force * New Concepts and Technologies from NASA's Space Solar Power Exploratory Research and Technology Program * Reinventing the Solar Power Satellite
Re-evaluating Satellite Solar Power Systems for Earth * Space-Based Solar Power As an Opportunity for Strategic Security * Solar Power in Space? * Space-Based Solar Power System Architecture * Exploring the Feasibility of Providing Electrical Power to Remote Bases Via Space-Based Solar Power Satellites

Space-based solar power (SBSP) is a concept for a revolutionary energy system. It involves placing into orbit stupendously large orbital power plants—kilometers across—which collect the sun's raw energy and beam it down to where it is needed on the earth. In theory, SBSP could scale to meet all of humanity's energy needs, providing virtually unlimited green, renewable power to an energy-hungry world. Most renewable energy schemes suffer from intermittency and low energy density, requiring vast amounts of land and extensive storage as well as fossil fuel backup systems. Not so with SBSP systems. When placed in orbit where the sun shines constantly, they can deliver stable, uninterrupted, 24-hour, large-scale power to the urban centers where the majority of humanity lives. A network of thousands of solar-power satellites (SPS) could provide all the power required for an Earth-based population as large as 10 billion people, even for a fully developed "first world" lifestyle but without the environmental downsides of nuclear or coal. Should space-based solar power have a role in the US grand strategy for space? Should Airmen advocate for a US program in SBSP? Depending on your viewpoint, SBSP is either the most important space project of our generation—critical to securing American long-term interests and requiring the advocacy of Airmen—or a fool's errand, an impossible dream threatening to divert valuable resources from where they are most needed today.