Re:Space Solar Power Demonstrator ends first in-space mission
by physicles on Wednesday January 17, 2024 @05:38PM
(#39034584)
As a non-EE I don’t have any intuition for antenna sizes, so this is a great first-principles explanation.
Here’s the interesting part: I don’t see the supporters of SBSP disagreeing about antenna sizes. Yet, they somehow still see economic viability in the future. How?
As far as I can tell, in order to get close to commercial viability they’re doing the math with the launch services market of 2040, but comparing it against the cost of ground-based solar in 2023. As long as you’re making the solar panels on earth, it’s always going to make more sense to install them there.
Here’s the interesting part: I don’t see the supporters of SBSP disagreeing about antenna sizes. Yet, they somehow still see economic viability in the future. How?
As far as I can tell, in order to get close to commercial viability they’re doing the math with the launch services market of 2040, but comparing it against the cost of ground-based solar in 2023. As long as you’re making the solar panels on earth, it’s always going to make more sense to install them there.