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China plans to build huge space solar power station

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China plans to build huge space solar power station - The Economic Times

By PTI | 30 Mar, 2015, 12.33PM IST

BEIJING: China plans to build a huge solar power station 36,000 kilometres above the ground in an attempt to battle smog, cut greenhouse gases and solve energy crisis, much on the lines of an idea first floated in 1941 by fiction writer Isaac Asimov, state media reported today.

If realised, it will surpass the scale of the Apollo project and the International Space Station, and be the largest-ever space project.

The power station would be a super spacecraft on a geosynchronous orbit equipped with huge solar panels. The electricity generated would be converted to microwaves or lasers and transmitted to a collector on Earth, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

In 1941, American science fiction writer Isaac Asimov had published a short story "Reason", in which a space station transmits energy collected from the sun using microwave beams.

Wang Xiji, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and an International Academy of Astronautics member, says Asimov's fiction has a scientific basis.


After devoting over 50 years to space technology research, Wang, 93, is an advocate for the station: "An economically viable space power station would be really huge, with the total area of the solar panels reaching 5 to 6 sq km."

That would be equivalent to 12 of Beijing's Tian'anmen Square, the largest public square in the world, or nearly two New York Central Parks. "Maybe people on Earth could see it in the sky at night, like a star," says Wang.

Wang says the electricity generated from the ground-based solar plants fluctuates with night and day and the weather, but a space generator collects energy 99 per cent of the time.


Space-based solar panels can generate ten times as much electricity as ground-based panels per unit area, says Duan Baoyan, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

"If we have space solar power technology, hopefully we could solve the energy crisis on Earth," Duan said.

Wang says whoever obtains the technology first "could occupy the future energy market. So it's of great strategic significance."

Countries such as the US and Japan have studied space solar power station. Japan leads the development of wireless power transmission technology.

However, many hurdles lie ahead: A commercially viable space power station would weigh 10,000 tons. But few rockets can carry a payload of over 100 tons to low Earth orbit.

"We need a cheap heavy-lift launchvehicle," says Wang, who designed China's first carrier rocket more than 40 years ago.

"We also need to make very thin and light solar panels. The weight of the panel must be less than 200 grams per square metre."

Li Ming, vice president of the China Academy of Space Technology, says, "China will build a space station in around 2020, which will open an opportunity to develop space solar power technology."

"When space solar energy becomes our main energy, people will no longer worry about smog or the greenhouse effect," concludes Wang.
 
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China prepares to launch second heavy-lift carrier rocket bolstering its space program

China is preparing to launch a powerful rocket on Sunday as the country presses on with its ambitious space program.
world Updated: Jul 02, 2017 07:48 IST
http://www.hindustantimes.com/world...ace-program/story-Cqoeqjkiqkm8jABSRWphTP.html

_5a87a4a6-5ecc-11e7-9d38-39c470df081e.jpg


It said the satellite will operate on geosynchronous orbit and provide communications services over China’s territory -- boosting internet access and providing access to more television channels.(AFP File Photo)

http://www.hindustantimes.com/world...ace-program/story-Cqoeqjkiqkm8jABSRWphTP.html

China is preparing to launch a powerful rocket on Sunday as the country presses on with its ambitious space program.

Designed to lift space station components, deep-space probes and communication satellites into orbit, the Long March-5 Y2 is Beijing’s second heavy-lift rocket able to carry up to 25 tonnes -- or around the same weight as 16 cars.

It will take off from the Wenchang launch center in the tropical island province of Hainan, carrying the new Shijian-18 experimental communications satellite, state broadcaster CGTN reported Saturday.

It said the satellite will operate on geosynchronous orbit and provide communications services over China’s territory -- boosting internet access and providing access to more television channels.

The process of filling propellant into fuel tanks began Saturday afternoon, CGTN said.

Xinhua state news agency reported last week that the Long March-5 Y2 will be fuelled by liquid hydrogen, kerosene and liquid oxygen.

Beijing sees its multi-billion-dollar space programme as a symbol of its rise and of the Communist Party’s success in turning around the fortunes of the once poverty-stricken nation.

Last month it successfully launched the Long March-4B, its first X-ray space telescope to study black holes, pulsars and gamma-ray bursts.

And in April, the country’s first cargo spacecraft completed its docking with an orbiting space lab -- a key development toward China’s goal of having its own crewed space station by 2022.
 
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@beijingwalker @CHN Bamboo, what happened to the project in the OP ? It seemed unwise anyway.
it got delayed after the long march 5 heavy lift rocket that's required for this mission experienced issues. Now the issue with the long march 5 has been resolved, the space station mission is back on and the core module is expected to launch later this year.
 
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it got delayed after the long march 5 heavy lift rocket that's required for this mission experienced issues. Now the issue with the long march 5 has been resolved, the space station mission is back on and the core module is expected to launch later this year.

I see. About the below quote :
However, many hurdles lie ahead: A commercially viable space power station would weigh 10,000 tons. But few rockets can carry a payload of over 100 tons to low Earth orbit.
How does China plan to launch the 100 launchers required to place the 10,000 ton cargo into GEO orbit ? Does China have a reusable launcher program ?
 
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I see. About the below quote :

How does China plan to launch the 100 launchers required to place the 10,000 ton cargo into GEO orbit ? Does China have a reusable launcher program ?
oops, i thought this was about the space station. disregard what i said. never heard of this project.
 
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Meanwhile on free sheep media

Shocking: Controversial Communist CCP plan to steal sunlight to fuel its hegemony! Experts familiar with the matter call project questionable and dangerous.
 
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@beijingwalker @CHN Bamboo, what happened to the project in the OP ? It seemed unwise anyway.

The latest progress of the project, Chinese source:

Recently, Xi'an Branch of the Chinese Academy of Space Technology, Xi'an University of Electronic Science and Technology, Chongqing University and Chongqing have reached a cooperation agreement to start the construction of China's first space solar power station experimental base in Chongqing to accumulate technical experience for the final completion of space solar energy. it is expected to build a large-scale space power station in 2050 with an investment of 300 billion yuan.

It will be a long time before it is finally completed.

 
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A good idea, no private company will fork out the cash to develop the space station.
 
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China plans to build huge space solar power station - The Economic Times

By PTI | 30 Mar, 2015, 12.33PM IST

BEIJING: China plans to build a huge solar power station 36,000 kilometres above the ground in an attempt to battle smog, cut greenhouse gases and solve energy crisis, much on the lines of an idea first floated in 1941 by fiction writer Isaac Asimov, state media reported today.

If realised, it will surpass the scale of the Apollo project and the International Space Station, and be the largest-ever space project.

The power station would be a super spacecraft on a geosynchronous orbit equipped with huge solar panels. The electricity generated would be converted to microwaves or lasers and transmitted to a collector on Earth, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

In 1941, American science fiction writer Isaac Asimov had published a short story "Reason", in which a space station transmits energy collected from the sun using microwave beams.

Wang Xiji, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and an International Academy of Astronautics member, says Asimov's fiction has a scientific basis.


After devoting over 50 years to space technology research, Wang, 93, is an advocate for the station: "An economically viable space power station would be really huge, with the total area of the solar panels reaching 5 to 6 sq km."

That would be equivalent to 12 of Beijing's Tian'anmen Square, the largest public square in the world, or nearly two New York Central Parks. "Maybe people on Earth could see it in the sky at night, like a star," says Wang.

Wang says the electricity generated from the ground-based solar plants fluctuates with night and day and the weather, but a space generator collects energy 99 per cent of the time.


Space-based solar panels can generate ten times as much electricity as ground-based panels per unit area, says Duan Baoyan, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

"If we have space solar power technology, hopefully we could solve the energy crisis on Earth," Duan said.

Wang says whoever obtains the technology first "could occupy the future energy market. So it's of great strategic significance."

Countries such as the US and Japan have studied space solar power station. Japan leads the development of wireless power transmission technology.

However, many hurdles lie ahead: A commercially viable space power station would weigh 10,000 tons. But few rockets can carry a payload of over 100 tons to low Earth orbit.

"We need a cheap heavy-lift launchvehicle," says Wang, who designed China's first carrier rocket more than 40 years ago.

"We also need to make very thin and light solar panels. The weight of the panel must be less than 200 grams per square metre."

Li Ming, vice president of the China Academy of Space Technology, says, "China will build a space station in around 2020, which will open an opportunity to develop space solar power technology."

"When space solar energy becomes our main energy, people will no longer worry about smog or the greenhouse effect," concludes Wang.
Best go with something like lasers for the energy delivery to Earth.. delivery systems with a large area of affect aren't as efficient and certainly more worrisome.
 
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