Space-based Solar Power as a Catalyst for Space Development

Abstract

Robust space development as usually envisioned by its advocates—the persistent and self-sustaining presence of humans and industry in space—is stymied by a fundamental paradox: for there to be a reason to develop space, there must already be people and industry there. To the extent that space development is a priority for any government or entity, this paradox must be surmounted. Space-based solar power (SBSP) production may represent the best way to overcome this paradox because of the technology's inherent scalability, rising demand for terrestrial clean baseload energy, and potential for self-funding. However, technical, regulatory, legal (domestic and international), and geopolitical challenges to deploying this technology on a large scale remain. In this article, the authors describe how SBSP development can potentially overcome the development paradox and offer an analysis of the challenges to this concept and potential approaches to resolving them. Furthermore, they provide a tentative research and commercialization roadmap for a private-public partnership for SBSP to deliver sustainable space development, identifying relative advantages and disadvantages.