·5 min read
Energy & Infrastructure
The Ultimate Clean Energy Source Takes Shape
Taha Abbasi has always been drawn to frontier technology that sounds impossible until it suddenly is not, and space-based solar power is emerging from decades of theoretical research into early-stage development. Multiple nations and private companies are now actively working on systems to collect solar energy in orbit and beam it back to Earth — a concept that could provide unlimited, weather-independent, 24/7 clean power.
The field is emerging regardless of US energy policy favoring fossil fuels. Japan, China, the UK, and the European Space Agency all have active space solar programs, and the declining cost of space launches — driven primarily by SpaceX’s reusable rockets — is making the economics increasingly viable.
How It Works
Space solar power systems would place large solar arrays in geostationary orbit, where they would collect sunlight 24 hours a day without atmospheric interference, clouds, or nighttime. The collected energy would be converted to microwave or laser beams and transmitted to receiving stations on Earth, where it would be converted back to electricity.
The concept has been studied since the 1960s but was always blocked by prohibitive launch costs. As Taha Abbasi notes, SpaceX’s Starship — designed to dramatically reduce the cost per kilogram to orbit — changes the entire equation. What was economically impossible at $10,000 per kilogram becomes potentially viable at $100 per kilogram.
Who Is Leading
Japan’s JAXA has the most mature program, with plans for a commercial-scale demonstration by the early 2030s. China has announced ambitious plans for a megawatt-class orbital solar station. The UK’s Space Energy Initiative is developing Cassiopeia, a solar power satellite concept. Caltech in the US has already demonstrated wireless power transmission from orbit in a small-scale experiment.
Taha Abbasi sees space solar as the logical extension of two trends he covers extensively: the electrification of everything and the declining cost of space access. When those two trends converge, space-based power generation becomes not just possible but inevitable.
The Challenges Remain Significant
Engineering challenges include building and maintaining enormous structures in orbit, transmitting power efficiently across 36,000 kilometers, and ensuring the microwave beams are safe and precisely targeted. These are solvable problems, but they require decades of sustained investment and engineering development.
The political challenge is equally significant. Space solar threatens fossil fuel incumbents in a way that ground-based renewables do not — it could provide baseload power at scale, eliminating the intermittency argument against solar and wind. As Taha Abbasi observes, technologies this transformative always face resistance from the industries they threaten.
Why It Matters Now
The convergence of reusable rockets, advanced materials, and AI-enabled manufacturing is pulling space solar from the realm of science fiction into engineering feasibility. Taha Abbasi predicts the first commercial space solar demonstration will happen before 2035 — and when it does, it will reshape the global energy landscape as fundamentally as terrestrial solar panels have reshaped it over the past decade.
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About the Author: Taha Abbasi is a technology executive, CTO, and applied frontier tech builder. Read more on Grokpedia | YouTube: The Brown Cowboy | tahaabbasi.com
Taha Abbasi
Engineer by trade. Builder by instinct. Explorer by choice.
