India-US space-based solar power programme urged

[bananas]

Source: Yahoo News

India and the US should explore the feasibility of a space-based solar power (SBSP) programme with the ultimate aim of putting in place a commercially viable system by 2025, a report by a defence ministry funded think tank says.

There is, however, a catch. India would first have to accede to the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) before the system is put in place, says the report that has been prepared by Peter Garretson, a US Air Force lieutenant colonel on a sabbatical as an international fellow at the New Delhi-based Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA).

Noting that SBSP can be 'the next major step in the Indo-US strategic partnership', the 174-page report says the launch of such a potentially revolutionary programme can begin with a joint statement by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and US President Barak Obama during the latter's visit to New Delhi in November.

Besides helping to 'solve the linked problems of energy security, development and climate change', the SBSP will provide an opportunity for India to use its successful space programme while shaping a future peaceful space regime, Garretson said.

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Read more: http://in.news.yahoo.com/43/20100913/982/tsc-india-us-space-based-solar-power-pro_1.html

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Let's do it!

[Posteritatis]

1. Go for it! (nt)

[Vehl]

2. I'm all for it.

This sounds like a good idea. Green technologies like these would do a lot to address the energy needs of the future. It would also hopefully create a lot of jobs in both countries, and also provide a boost for funding in space tech related fields.


India-America Cooperation in space has already yielded great results....the Indian Chandraayan Moon mission, along with some of the American instruments it carried was the first one to provide evidence of water on the moon.

India’s lunar mission finds evidence of water on the Moon

Dreams of establishing a manned Moon base could become reality within two decades after India’s first lunar mission found evidence of large quantities of water on its surface.

Data from Chandrayaan-1 also suggests that water is still being formed on the Moon. Scientists said the breakthrough — to be announced by Nasa at a press conference today — would change the face of lunar exploration.

The discovery is a significant boost for India in its space race against China. Dr Mylswamy Annadurai, the mission’s project director at the Indian Space Research Organisation in Bangalore, said: “It’s very satisfying.”

The search for water was one of the mission’s main objectives, but it was a surprise nonetheless, scientists said.The unmanned craft was equipped with Nasa’s Moon Mineralogy Mapper, designed specifically to search for water by picking up the electromagnetic radiation emitted by minerals. The M3 also made the unexpected discovery that water may still be forming on the surface of the Moon, according to scientists familiar with the mission.


http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/science/space/article6846639.ece

PS:

One of the advantages of a space based solar power program could be the super-thin solar panels one could use in vacuum...thus resulting in huge swathes being covered with energy producing panels.

[Terry in Austin]

3. Space research

As a space research project, this might be kind of interesting. We'd learn how to build 50 square kilometer solar collectors and heavy-lift 5000-ton structures into geostationary orbit in coordinated 150-launch sequences.

As a practical source of energy, probably not so interesting -- even in the long run, probably not. For one thing, it's not clear that there would be much, if any, net energy from it, once you subtract the amount of energy it takes to build and launch the station.

With all due respect, I'd have to say that there are more interesting ways to explore space, and more practical ways to provide ourselves with renewable energy.

[Vehl]

4. I agree that Solar power cannot fuel all the energy needs

of a nation. It could be part of the solution, but not a solution by itself.


From some of the optimistic projections ive seen about space based Solar power....the major advantage seems to be the ability to use super-thin ...almost microns-thick solar panels which can cover hundreds if not thousands of square Kilometers. This would be orders of magnitude larger than the current earth based ones which are limited by gravity/available space.

But, as you pointed out, such a huge project might also induce explosive growth in the tech/scientific sector and the spin-off techs might have a lot of positive economic benefits.



Apparently a lot of solar energy is reflected/absorbed into the atmosphere before it reaches the ground...with space based solar cells this loss is negligible




lol this pic looks very sci-fi ish :D