The Gerard K. O'Neill proposal of beaming microwaves from space gets revisited from time to time.
The solar array looks better and better because it can be something like a space blanket with a film of semiconductor evaporated onto it and is so lightweight it might be affordable to launch the materials from Earth.
and probably means the transmitter is a separate space blanket with an antenna array printed on it. It looks less good.
All of this tech targets a market (terra firma) that has the most competitive energy markets in the solar system. People are struggling with how to fuel airliners and I wonder if an airliner could have enough stored energy to climb from JFK to 40,000 feet and then pick up a beam to cross the ocean.
The Us Govt is working on laser satellites to beam power to earth anyway:
https://www.energy.gov/articles/space-based-solar-power
The Gerard K. O'Neill proposal of beaming microwaves from space gets revisited from time to time.
The solar array looks better and better because it can be something like a space blanket with a film of semiconductor evaporated onto it and is so lightweight it might be affordable to launch the materials from Earth.
This problem affects the microwave link
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thinned-array_curse
and probably means the transmitter is a separate space blanket with an antenna array printed on it. It looks less good.
All of this tech targets a market (terra firma) that has the most competitive energy markets in the solar system. People are struggling with how to fuel airliners and I wonder if an airliner could have enough stored energy to climb from JFK to 40,000 feet and then pick up a beam to cross the ocean.