Could SpaceX's Starship revolutionize space-based solar power production?
An innovation highlighted by the startup Virtus Solis at the International Space-Based Energy Conference in London promises to capitalize on significant launch cost reductions for energy production.
Illustration of SpaceX's Starship deploying several orbitally manufactured satellites into space.
Credit: Victus Solis
According to John Bucknell, a former SpaceX engineer and founder of Virtus Solis, economical access to space is crucial for making space-based solar power feasible.
Currently, sending a satellite into orbit costs less than $3,000 per kilogram thanks to SpaceX's reusable rockets. However, for space-based solar power to be competitive, this cost would need to drop below $200 per kilogram. With the fully operational Starship, costs could decrease to only $10 per kilogram.
Virtus Solis plans to build vast photovoltaic networks, spanning up to about 0.62 miles (1 kilometer), assembled in orbit by robots. These modules, measuring about 5.2 feet (1.6 meters) wide, would be transported by a Starship to a Molniya orbit, ensuring consistent energy coverage for a region.
Comparison of Molniya orbit (in yellow) and geostationary orbit.
Image Wikimedia In this highly elliptical orbit, a satellite completes a full orbit of Earth in 12 hours. A constellation of two or more such networks could provide a constant "base energy" to a region, or even to the entire world with 16 networks, transmitting energy in the form of microwaves to massive terrestrial receiving antennas.
By 2027, Virtus Solis aims to launch a demonstrative satellite that will test the spatial assembly of solar panels and power transmission, targeting around 20% efficiency for practical use. This ambitious project could lead to a commercial megawatt-class solar facility by 2030.
Clip from a promotional video by Victus Solis showing a space manufacturing spacecraft maneuvering a solar panel element into place in a large network.
Credit: Victus Solis