Zehra joined the Shield of Iron private security firm in early 2055, leveraging her time in the Turkish military to land a coveted position in Shield’s orbital security services (SOSS), charged with protecting a joint French and German space-based solar power plant.
The work wasn’t exactly glamorous, but with it paying three times what she would make groundside, there wasn’t much thought of returning to Earth, other than for her paid leave. The pay, and the family care program SOSS offered, in hindsight, were probably why Zehra never raised an objection when she received that communication early one Thursday.
That Thursday would have been memorable anyway, because it was Zehra’s sister’s 18th birthday, and the call from SOSS HQ in Istanbul came about 10 minutes after Zehra finished wishing her sister well. Yusuf, the chief of operations at SOSS told her to seize the VIP transport shuttle which was passing her orbital facility in 30 minutes. While Yusuf made an effort to explain that the transport was carrying a wanted fugitive and Zia and her crew would receive a substantial bounty, Zehra never even thought to question the order. Within 10 minutes, three men, two women and Zehra were on board their fast patrol cutter, and burning towards the shuttle.
That Thursday would have been memorable anyway, because it was Zehra’s sister’s 18th birthday, and the call from SOSS HQ in Istanbul came about 10 minutes after Zehra finished wishing her sister well. Yusuf, the chief of operations at SOSS told her to seize the VIP transport shuttle which was passing her orbital facility in 30 minutes. While Yusuf made an effort to explain that the transport was carrying a wanted fugitive and Zia and her crew would receive a substantial bounty, Zehra never even thought to question the order. Within 10 minutes, three men, two women and Zehra were on board their fast patrol cutter, and burning towards the shuttle.
Within an hour, and after two of her team were injured in the boarding, Zehra reported to Yusuf that the shuttle was secure, but everyone on the shuttle had been killed. Zehra started to ask if Yusef if that would be a problem when the shuttles’ sensors detected the first of what would be a dozen hyper-velocity missiles launched from a Japanese ground installation targeting the ship that had raided the Japanese Deputy Prime Minister.
The Real Deal
Space-Based Solar Power (SBSP)
The idea of capturing solar power in space for use as energy on Earth has been around since the beginning of the space age. In the last few years, however, scientists around the globe — and several researchers at the US Energy Department’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) — have shown how technological developments could make this concept a reality. In early 2018, scientists from the California Institute of Technology announced that they had succeeded in creating a prototype capable of harnessing and transmitting solar energy from space.
Their prototype is a lightweight tile that consists of three main components. Optical reflectors concentrate the sunlight, photovoltaic cells convert the sunlight to electricity, and an integrated circuit converts the electricity to radiofrequency energy that is transmitted through an attached antenna. Many individual tiles could be strung together to form large solar arrays in space. A ground-based microwave receiver on Earth would be used to intercept the incoming radiofrequency energy and convert it back into usable electricity.
The scientists demonstrated that their prototype works by subjecting it to space-like conditions in the laboratory and using it to power a light-emitting diode (LED) located about 20 inches (50 centimeters) away from the tile. You can view the prototype in action at the 2:26 mark in the video at the link here.
Advantages of SBSP?
Solar arrays, no matter how efficient, only generate power when the sun is illuminating them. So if solar power is going to replace today’s fossil-fuel-powered electric-generating stations you have to have it generating power all the time. This is not possible for ground-based solar energy without some form of electrical energy storage, which adds significantly to the cost of solar electricity generated on Earth.
The great thing about space is that orbits exist where there’s no nighttime. And so we have the prospect of making power that flows continuously and that can be instantly sent to where it is needed. The potential benefits are enormous. About a quarter of humanity has no electric power whatsoever. So this is an enabling technology that could leapfrog the electric-power transmission grid on Earth, and have the same effect that the cellular phone system had on communications.
Harry Atwater (Caltech Space Based Solar Power Researcher)
Types of SBSP
The two most commonly discussed designs for SBSP are a large, deeper space microwave transmitting satellite and a smaller, nearer laser transmitting satellite.
MIcrowave Transmitting
Microwave transmitting satellites orbit Earth in geostationary orbit (GEO), about 35,000 km above Earth’s surface. Designs for microwave transmitting satellites are massive, with solar reflectors spanning up to 3 km and weighing over 80,000 metric tons. They would be capable of generating multiple gigawatts of power, enough to power a major U.S. city.
The long wavelength of the microwave requires a long antenna, and allows power to be beamed through the Earth’s atmosphere, rain or shine, at safe, low intensity levels hardly stronger than the midday sun. Birds and planes wouldn’t notice much of anything flying across their paths.
The estimated cost of launching, assembling and operating a microwave-equipped GEO satellite is in the tens of billions of dollars based on current launch costs of ~$1,000 USD per KG. It would likely require as many as 40 launches for all necessary materials to reach space. On Earth, the rectenna used for collecting the microwave beam would be anywhere between 3 and 10 km in diameter, a huge area of land, and a challenge to purchase and develop.
Laser Transmitting
Laser transmitting satellites, as described by LLNL, orbit in low Earth orbit (LEO) at about 400 km above the Earth’s surface. Weighing in in at less than 10 metric tons, this satellite is a fraction of the weight of its microwave counterpart. This design is cheaper too; some predict that a laser-equipped SBSP satellite would cost nearly $500 million to launch and operate. It would be possible to launch the entire self-assembling satellite in a single rocket, drastically reducing the cost and time to production. Also, by using a laser transmitter, the beam will only be about 2 meters in diameter, instead of several km, a drastic and important reduction.
While this satellite is far lighter, cheaper and easier to deploy than its microwave counterpart, serious challenges remain. The idea of high-powered lasers in space could draw on fears of the militarization of space. This challenge could be remedied by limiting the direction that which the laser system could transmit its power.
At its smaller size, there is a correspondingly lower capacity of about 1 to 10 megawatts per satellite. Therefore, this satellite would be best as part of a fleet of similar satellites, used together.
There is also the challenge of these satellites being in LEO, so they would have to constantly be shifting which ground station they delivered power to as they orbited the entire globe about six-eight times a day.
An New INterstellar Order?
A key consequence of SBSP is the democratization of space. A durable source of limitless power will allow the creation of orbital scale elevators. This will reduce the cost of getting to space from about $10/kg in 2050, to somewhere between 1-5 cents a kg once the elevators are complete. For at least the first 20+ years it is almost certain that the cost of using an orbital elevator will be limited only by capacity, not cost to operate.
As space becomes increasingly democratized, the stability of our current rule-based international system becomes increasingly perilous. By 2040 a trip to space will costs little more than a trans-Atlantic flight now, so (even without an orbital elevator) any two-bit terrorist group, or just some rich, mischievous kid will be able to wreak havoc on multi-billion dollar orbital installations. At some point countries, (and almost certainly companies) will find it cheaper to pay private security companies to secure their orbital installations rather than field their own space ‘forces’.
Who do these private security companies report to? Who governs their actions? Who enforces international rules? There are no boundaries in space, and the thought of drawing lines in space to delineate ‘spheres of influence’ seem a little silly when you realize how big space is.
So then…will force be the only thing that keeps everyone in line in the future? Humanity’s past suggests that is the case. But maybe there is a chance to change that…maybe…just maybe…realizing that you can’t see any country borders in space will remind future orbital citizens that we really all in this together.
It is a nice thought — and one I hope to be able to help make happen. Next time we will look at a more mundane facet of life in space…waiting. Until then feel free to check out some older posts here and here or contact me if you want to schedule a talk on the future of space. Feel free to check out my nutrition blog here if you want to tackle inflammation, stress or depression with science.