China intends to build a space power station
The sun is an inexhaustible source of renewable energy. Now imagine that you could collect the latter regardless of the time of day or weather conditions. This is the concept that is being developed by Chinese scientists.
If the project proposed by the engineers of the Celestial Empire in 2015 is implemented, then China may become the first country in the world to own a space solar power station. The object is planned to be placed at an altitude of 36000 km. from a surface where he can continuously collect the energy of the Sun and transmit it to the Earth through laser beams or microwaves, projecting them onto special collectors.
The implementation of the ambitious project will take place in several stages. Initially, from 2021 to 2025, several mini-prototypes will be launched into the atmosphere to test the transfer of collected energy to ground-based objects. Further, by 2030, a megawatt power plant will be put into low Earth orbit. And finally, by 2050, developers are going to launch a gigawatt-class device.
The main problem that designers will face is the weight of the station. It is about 1000 tons, which, for example, is twice the mass of the ISS. Therefore, developers are considering a use case. Technology 3D printing and robots to assemble the station directly in space. In addition, the question of the influence of microwaves on the atmosphere remains open.
If the Chinese designers still succeed, then one such power plant will be able to replace 6 ground-based "solar farms". Plus, in the future it will be possible to significantly reduce environmental pollution due to emissions of its ground-based "fuel" analogues.
If the project proposed by the engineers of the Celestial Empire in 2015 is implemented, then China may become the first country in the world to own a space solar power station. The object is planned to be placed at an altitude of 36000 km. from a surface where he can continuously collect the energy of the Sun and transmit it to the Earth through laser beams or microwaves, projecting them onto special collectors.
The implementation of the ambitious project will take place in several stages. Initially, from 2021 to 2025, several mini-prototypes will be launched into the atmosphere to test the transfer of collected energy to ground-based objects. Further, by 2030, a megawatt power plant will be put into low Earth orbit. And finally, by 2050, developers are going to launch a gigawatt-class device.
The main problem that designers will face is the weight of the station. It is about 1000 tons, which, for example, is twice the mass of the ISS. Therefore, developers are considering a use case. Technology 3D printing and robots to assemble the station directly in space. In addition, the question of the influence of microwaves on the atmosphere remains open.
If the Chinese designers still succeed, then one such power plant will be able to replace 6 ground-based "solar farms". Plus, in the future it will be possible to significantly reduce environmental pollution due to emissions of its ground-based "fuel" analogues.
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