Space-Solar Race Draws Government Funding, No Direct Bakken Data

Global governments are funding and exploring space-based solar power systems, according to OilPrice.com, but the Nov. 8 report provided no direct data affecting North Dakota, Bakken operators or royalty owners.

The report said several countries are racing to develop systems that harness solar power from space. On Earth, solar power has become popular but is limited by night, cloud cover, atmospheric conditions and seasonality. Roughly 30% of incoming solar radiation never reaches ground level, OilPrice.com said. In space, the sun shines constantly.

OilPrice.com said governments are exploring the technology to help countries access more solar power while reducing dependence on land. Space-based solar power would place microwave-transmitting satellites in geostationary orbit at an altitude of 35,000 kilometers above Earth’s surface. Those satellites would beam power to massive solar reflectors on Earth. The reflectors can span up to 3 kilometers and weigh more than 80,000 metric tonnes, according to the report. If deployed successfully, the mechanisms are thought to be capable of generating multiple gigawatts of clean power.

The report said a potential benefit is supplying remote regions without needing to expand the traditional grid to build a large local power plant. The long microwave wavelength would require a long antenna to beam power through Earth’s atmosphere in any weather condition, at safe, low-intensity levels described as barely stronger than the midday sun. OilPrice.com said the technology is not expected to interfere with birds or planes.

China, the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan are developing space-based solar power projects to assess feasibility, the report said. It identified China’s ZhuRi, or “Chase the Sun,” programme, the U.K.’s Space Solar programme and Japan’s OHISAMA project as aiming to achieve the technology first. In the U.S., projects are underway at Caltech and the Air Force Research Laboratory.

In the U.K., Space Solar aims to launch two demonstration missions in the coming years: one to transmit power to the ground via radio waves, and another to demonstrate how robots could construct large structures in space, according to OilPrice.com. The U.K. government has provided about $1.6 million in funding for the project. The company aims to eventually develop a 1.8-kilometer-wide structure in space called Cassiopeia, fitted with millions of table-sized satellites to collect sunlight 24/7. It would use antennas to beam power to a receiving station on the ground the size of Heathrow Airport, which would convert radio waves into electricity.

In the U.S., Star Catcher beamed light across the length of an American football stadium pitch in Florida in 2024, from an emitter to a screen, OilPrice.com reported. The light was harnessed from the sun and beamed out by large lenses on the field, each about 1.2 meters tall, resembling magnifying glasses. Star Catcher CEO Andrew Rush said, “We beamed 100 watts about 105 metres.”

The source text provided did not complete the description of a January filing by Elon Musk’s company SpaceX. For Bakken Wire readers, the story shows that some governments are funding space-based solar power projects; it does not provide North Dakota-specific oil or gas data.