An article by Sterling Allan, "First space-to-earth solar power station targeted for Oct. 2010," talks about the plans of Sir Charles Shults of Xenotech Research to beam power from space.
Readers may be interested in some of the comments from Sterling Allan's interview with Sir Charles Shults. The first solar space station will be deployed into a low Earth orbit and generate 12 to 13 kW of power. The article states, “The power will be transmitted via precisely-tuned microwave frequencies, and will require 'no fly zones' above the receiver area on earth.” The article provides no additional information about satellite, such as how the beam can be focused so narrowly with so much gain as to create a hazard for aircraft almost 300 miles away while the antenna is moving through space in low earth orbit. Future plans call for a 1 gigawatt geosynchronous solar space station. That sounds more threatening!
Another statement in the article caught my attention. Sir Charles cited new work being done by Mitsubishi in Japan for powering cell phones without wires that showed “wireless point-to-point transmission on earth presently exceeds the efficiency of copper-based transmission.”
For more information check the Space Island Group. This company is working with Xenotech to build the space stations. Xenotech moved its operations to the Spaceport America location in Truth or Consequences, NM.
This is not the first proposal for power from space, but if Xenotech can meet its aggressive October 2010 deadline, it will likely be the first to demonstrate it!
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