0191-9067/83 $3.00 + .00 Copyright ® 1983 SUN SAT Energy Council EVOLUTION OF THE SOLAR POWER SATELLITE CONCEPT: THE UTILIZATION OF ENERGY FROM SPACE PETER E. GLASER Arthur D. Little, Inc. Acorn Park Cambridge, Massachusetts 02410, USA Abstract — The utilization of the inexhaustible resources available in space is discussed with emphasis on solar energy conversion in orbit for use on Earth. The rationale for the solar power satellite (SPS) as a potential global energy supply option is presented, and the evolution of this concept since 1968 is traced. Alternative concepts for obtaining energy from space are also reviewed. The factors favoring the development of the SPS are highlighted, including projected dramatic increases in global electrical generating capacity. Environmental impacts and societal effects with emphasis on international participation in an SPS program are considered and the SPS is compared with alternative energy conversion methods. The international implications of the SPS are underlined and the common interests of both developed and developing nations in the development of the SPS as a 21st century option are recognized. The steps towards implementation of the SPS option are outlined in the context of achieving the inevitable transition to renewable sources of energy. Viewed from a historical perspective, few scientific and technical events have the stature of a genuine revolution in human affairs. The great events that have transformed the way men have lived, thought, and acted, ranging from the discovery of fire to the taming of the atom, must now include the conquest of space — a dimension that has until recently been unattainable, forbidding, elusive, and tantalizing in its unrevealed and unknowable promises. But, man is still too close to his entry into the space age to comprehend the potential impact of this achievement and his new capability. His evolution into space already has had global effects on communications and Earth observations. Success or failure in grasping the still beckoning opportunities provided by space resources will have as much influence on the destiny of society as the industrial revolution had on the development of the world economy. Some view space utilization as a diversion from worthwhile societal purposes, as an endeavor primarily of scientific interest, or as a form of entertainment covered by the mass media. Others view it as deserving to be recognized as the single, most pervasive influence on all future human activities. The growth of space utilization could have the most profound effects on the resolution of contemporary concerns, ranging from the availability of assured energy resources to meeting Third World nations’ economic aspirations. In the past, government institutions and industrial organizations have concentrated their planning and decision-making on the near-term, considering 5 to 10 years to be long-term. But that “myopic view” is questionable, even for strictly terrestrial endeavors. Space utilization strategies will have to be based on longer-term projected, if not ultimate, consequences, i.e., scenarios of various program options extending through the next 50 years. Although such scenarios impart a futuristic
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