Space Solar Power

Download the Sun at night. Harvest solar power in space.

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White House petition proposes space solar power as national energy and space goal

spsalphaA petition to the White House to task the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy to examine space solar power (SSP) as a new energy and space goal for the U.S. has been posted on the White House WE the PEOPLE website, with a goal of 100,000 signatures by April 3, 2013. Read More

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Space-based solar farms power up

sps-alphasmSpace-based solar power has once again begun to attract attention with projects emerging in the US, Russia, China, India and Japan, among others. All are driven by increasing energy demands, soaring oil and gas prices, a desire to find clean alternatives to fossil fuels and by a burgeoning commercial space industry that promises to lower the cost of entry into space and spur on a host of new industries, says BBC Future. Read More

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It’s time for a real policy on asteroids

asteroidsIf you think the events of the post-Valentine’s day surprise of the Russian Meteor and 2012 DA14 near miss are one of a kind, think again. “We know there are 500,000 to 1 million asteroids the size of DA14 or larger. So far we have found fewer than 1% of that ‘cosmic hailstorm’ through which we sail in our yearly orbit around the Sun,” said the Association of Space Explorers in a recent statement. Read More

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Building a lunar base with 3D printing

3printed-lunar-base-512x304Setting up a lunar base could be made much simpler by using a 3D printer to build it from local materials. Read More

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National Space Society launches ‘Our Future in Space’ Kickstarter campaign

OurFutureInSpace-smThe National Space Society (NSS) has just launched a campaign on the popular Kickstarter Internet platform for the creation of a cutting-edge film about the ways in which all of humanity benefits from the expansion of space exploration and development.

This ground-breaking education initiative, entitled “Our Future in Space” is designed to bring NSS’s vision of human beings living and working in space to a broader audience. Read More

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Phoenix rising: DARPA’s plan to repair communication satellites in orbit

phoenixsmDARPA’s planned Phoenix program is intended to develop and demonstrate technologies to cooperatively harvest and re-use valuable components from retired, nonworking satellites in geosynchronous orbit (GEO) at greatly reduced cost. Read More

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Asteroid prospecting to provide essential resources for solar power satellites, says Deep Space Industries CTO Mankins

Mankins“You don”t see any magic” in Deep Space Industries‘ asteroid-prospecting concepts, said DSI chief technical officer and space solar power pioneer John Mankins. “There is really nothing that cannot be done with technology research which has already been accomplished in laboratories across the country.” Read More

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Deep Space Industries announces commercial asteroid hunters’ plans for new robotic exploration fleet

deep_space_indistries_logoDeep Space Industries (DSI) announced Monday night that it will send a fleet of asteroid-prospecting spacecraft out into the solar system to hunt for resources to accelerate space development to benefit Earth. Read More

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Planetary Resources announces space telescope for asteroid mining

space_telescopePlanetary Resources announced today, Jan. 21, that they have designed and built the Arkyd-100 space telescope, as part of their plan to “create the first commercial spacecraft family capable of venturing beyond Earth orbit and into deep-space.” Read More

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World’s first fleet of commercial asteroid-prospecting spacecraft

deepspaceindustriesOn Tuesday, Deep Space Industries Inc. will announce plans to create “the world’s first fleet of commercial asteroid-prospecting spacecraft,” according to an email press release. Read More