HARNESSING THE POTENTIAL OF SOLAR ENERGY FROM SPACE 24/7

Beaming solar power back from space could boost net zero ambitions and provide energy security

By the end of this year work will have started on a UK space energy system that will continually harvest solar power from the sun and beam it back to earth to be used to power our homes and businesses.

The Space Energy Initiative (SEI), based at the Satellite Applications Catapult at Harwell Campus is to benefit from the UK's Government's awarding of £3 million in grant funding for Space-Based Solar Power (SBSP) projects.

SBSP collects solar power through a constellation of large satellites in a high earth orbit and beams it securely to a fixed point on the earth. It promises to deliver clean energy throughout the year and in all weathers.

Martin Soltau, co-chair at Space Energy Initiative (SEI), said: “Increasingly, it is being realised that getting to net zero is incredibly difficult and it is important that we have energy security with affordable and resilient sources of energy.

“We need new energy technologies if we are going to achieve net zero and energy security.”

The SEI has planned a 12-year roadmap, starting this year, which aims to have its first operational power station in space by 2035, before moving to a period of rapid production and scaling.

The team says that by 2050 a total of 25 per cent of the UK’s energy could be generated from space.

The project was sparked by a feasibility report, commissioned by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and compiled by the Frazer-Nash Consultancy.

Previously considered as an attractive but unaffordable source of clean energy, those who support space-based solar power suggest that over the last decade it has become technically feasible and economically viable because the cost of space launch has fallen dramatically, a trend set to continue, and modular satellites are increasingly designed for high volume commercial manufacture.

The Frazer Nash report estimates the first project could cost around £16 billion, of which the first phase would need to be fully funded by the public sector. “Thereafter the private sector could reasonably be expected to start investing an increasing proportion as shown,” the report suggests.

Open Cosmos announces new shared satellite infrastructure project

Harwell Campus-based space satellite company Open Cosmos has announced a new shared satellite infrastructure project, Open Constellation.

The Open Constellation project is a global, shared satellite infrastructure built and managed by Open Cosmos to enable anyone to access satellite data to address challenges around the climate crisis, energy, natural resources and more.

Leading space organisations across Europe such as UKSA, Satellite Applications Catapult, IEEC, AGAPA, CEiiA and ESA are supporting the pioneering batch of six satellites that will see its first launch this month.

Open Cosmos says it is democratising access to critical data which otherwise would only be available through owned satellites that would be prohibitively expensive to launch and manage for smaller countries, and even companies

Further batches of the constellation are soon to be announced from existing and new Open Constellation members.