Solar Power From Space (SPS) continues to gain traction in Congress due to increased energy demand, increased energy costs, and emission implications.

The SPS activist group www.energyfromspace.org released a video message for the next President of the U.S. who we now know is Barack Obama.

If you already know about SPS, then just jump to the video below at the end of this article.

For those of you who know little about SPS here is a brief overview.

In 1973 Peter Glaser was granted U.S. patent number 3,781,647 for his method of transmitting power over long distances (eg, from an SPS to the Earth's surface) using microwaves from a very large (up to one square kilometer) antenna on the satellite to a much larger one on the ground, now known as a rectenna.

While collecting solar power on the earth is difficult at times with its day/night cycle and weather systems interfering in harnessing the energy, there are no such issues with collecting the power from space.

Solar power collection platforms would be in high Earth orbit and would collect the energy 24 hours a day, seven days a week and all year long. It would then beam that energy to Earth based collection stations where the power would then be distributed.

An SPS essentially consists of three parts:

1) Collecting solar power in space via solar cells or a heat engine
2) Transmitting that collected power to earth via microwave or laser
3) Receiving power on earth via microwave antennas (rectenna)

The space-based portion will be in a freefall, vacuum environment and will not need to support itself against gravity other than relatively weak tidal stresses. It needs no protection from terrestrial wind or weather, but will have to cope with space-based hazards such as micrometeorites and solar storms.

Economically, an SPS deployment project would create many new jobs and contract opportunities for industry, which may have political implications in the country or region which undertakes the project. Certainly the energy from an SPS would reduce political tension resulting from unequal distribution of energy supplies (eg, oil, gas, etc). For nations on the equator, SPS provides an incentive to stabilize and a sustained opportunity to lease land for launch sites.

Without doubt, the most obvious problem for the SPS concept is the current cost of space launches. Current rates on the Space Shuttle run between $3,000 and $5,000 per pound ($6,600/kg and $11,000/kg) to low Earth orbit, depending on whose numbers are used.

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