Endless Sunlight, Endless Costs: The Economic Reality of Space Solar Power - CleanTechnica

The article from CleanTechnica discusses the renewed interest in space-based solar power (SBSP), primarily driven by China’s active investment and development efforts. Unlike previous decades when SBSP remained largely theoretical or confined to research papers by agencies like NASA, Japan, and the European Space Agency, China is funding hardware development and test facilities, aiming to build a roadmap from a small test satellite in the late 2020s to a full-scale gigawatt orbital solar station by mid-century. This initiative aligns with China’s broader strategic goals, including advancing heavy-lift rockets, autonomous assembly technologies, and high-power microwave transmission, while also reinforcing its geopolitical positioning. Despite the excitement, the article emphasizes that the fundamental economic and physical challenges of SBSP remain unchanged. The primary obstacle is the extremely high cost of launching payloads into geosynchronous orbit, which currently ranges from about $3,600 to $10,000 per kilogram depending on the rocket and configuration. Even with optimistic projections for future Chinese rockets