Showing posts with label MTCR. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MTCR. Show all posts

25 September 2010

More on India USA Space Based Solar Power

Earlier I reported on the New IDSA-CFR Paper Proposing a Joint Space Solar Power Program:
http://www.idsa.in/occasionalpapers/SkysNoLimit_pgarretson_2010

http://www.cfr.org/publication/22918/skys_no_limit.html
And that it had been endorsed by the National Space Society:
http://www.nss.org/news/releases/pr20100913.pdf
I had also re-posted several articles reviewing the paper:
"India-US space-based solar power programme urged" which occurred across a number of news outlets across India, and "India-US space-based solar power plan could solve major energy issues - study" from ADP news, and "Making the Case An Indo-USA Space-Based Solar Power Programme"
By Bill Moore In EV World, and the review on the SpaceEnergy Newsletter.  Don Flournoy's piece "Why Not Space Solar Power" also amplified India's possible partnership role.
One can now also find earlier references, including this interview in the Times of India:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/interviews/Space-based-solar-power-could-solve-energy-crisis/articleshow/4759530.cms
http://m.timesofindia.com/PDATOI/articleshow/4759530.cms
http://www.pugwashindia.org/article_detail.asp?aid=198
http://www.punemirror.in/index.aspx?Page=article&sectname=News%20-%20City&sectid=2&contentid=20090413200904130234463648ecfff86
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=4&ved=0CCoQFjAD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tifr.res.in%2F~aset%2Ffull_text%2FFT_2009%2FSpace-Based%2520Solar%2520Power--The%2520Opportunity%2520of%2520a%2520Century%2520Indian%2520Tech%2520Societies%2520(IIT%2520Madrass).pdf&rct=j&q=garretson%20india%20space%20solar%20power&ei=5BGeTM2gD4a8lQfRybDsAg&usg=AFQjCNF1CIhSehLCAwkOj6QDLHAqFTmetQ&sig2=Q3pwYCo66VmuXRE6yYBJOQ&cad=rja

Now, several New articles have appeared:
For Instance:
"Report proposes Indo US space based solar energy program by 2025" in EcoFriend
"Multilateral Space-based Solar Energy Program Led by India, US Proposed" in Scientific American & Clean Technica
"Missile Man of India" in Hollywood Issues
"New Report Asks US and India to Take Solar Energy Into Space" in CleanTechies
"American Indian Solar Space Partnership" in GreenMuze
"India-US solar power initiative urged" in Overseas Indian
"India and U.S., the future rulers of the photovoltaic space?" bnrenergia.it
"Photovoltaic space: in 2025 will start a joint program maxi USA - India?"  greenme.it
 
From: http://www.ecofriend.org/entry/report-proposes-indo-us-space-based-solar-energy-program-by-2025/
Report proposes Indo US space based solar energy program by 2025
Sukhmani | Sep 20 2010
Eco Factor: Report proposes space-based solar energy programs to meet energy needs.

A report published by an Indian Defense ministry-backed think tank has proposed the establishment of an Indo –US international space-based solar energy program. Is this ever happens it could well become the second most important deal inked by the two nations ever since the signing of the nuclear deal. The project envisages the establishment of solar collectors in geostationary orbit to collect solar radiation throughout the year even during the night. The energy laden microwaves would then be transmitted to ground based collectors. If initiated the path breaking could become a commercially viable business venture by 2025.

The massive project holds great significance for both countries apart from taking their strategic relationship forward. Both the countries have gigantic energy needs and are under immense international pressure to own up and reduce their carbon emissions. Fortunately both are blessed in terms of solar energy sources which all the more sense why they seriously work on the project.
   
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=multilateral-space-based-solar-ener-2010-09
http://cleantechnica.com/2010/09/18/multilateral-space-based-solar-energy-program-led-by-india-us-proposed/
Multilateral Space-based Solar Energy Program Led by India, US Proposed
September 18, 2010 in Clean Energy, Policy, Solar Energy, Space
Mridul Chadha
Student, Environmental Engineer, Writer

A report published by an Indian Defense ministry-backed think tank has proposed for the establishment of an international space-based solar energy program with India and the United States initiating this massive project. The report is prepared by Peter Garretson, a US Air Force lieutenant colonel, working with the Institue of Defense Studies and Analyses, New Delhi. The reports calls for the Indian and the United States’ governments to extend their strategic partnerships to initiate this pathbreaking project and make the space-based solar energy a commercially viable business venture by 2025.

The report proposes that the two countries should wait no more and kick start the project through a joint statement during President Obama’s visit to India in November. The author of the report has proposed a three-tiered approach for the implementation of the program.

    Expanding on the three-stage plan, Garretson says an initial five-year $10-30 million programme will develop contributing technologies and build a competent work force culminating in a roadmap for a demonstration prototype.

    A second, $10 billion, 10-year phase will see the formation of an international consortium to construct a sub-scale space solar power system that can directly be scaled up by industry. The final stage will entail India-US leadership to set up an international for-profit consortium along the lines of the INTELSAT model to address energy security and carbon mitigation concerns.

Energy and Climate Change

Both India and the United States are among the top five greenhouse gas emitters in the world. Both are under immense pressure to curb their carbon emissions production. While India is being pressurized to cut back on its carbon emissions resulting from its rapidly growing industrial and power sector, the United States is constantly being reminded of its historical responsibility to reduce its carbon emissions.

India needs to expand its power generation capacity in order to maintain a high economic growth rate and improve the living standards of its billion plus population. While India is immensely blessed in terms of solar energy resources, the problem land availability to execute large-scale solar energy power plants is one of the major hurdles in a comprehensive solar energy infrastructure expansion.

Space-based solar power, therefore, seems to be a great choice for India. Space-based solar collectors placed in a geostationary orbit can collect solar radiation for 99 percent time of the year and even during the night. This radiation would be then transmitted to ground-based collectors in the form of microwaves. These microwaves would have far more energy than the normal radiation we receive on the earth’s surface.

Strategic Advantage

Such a project can reap tremendous scientific and strategic benefits for both the countries. India is an emerging global power especially in Asia, looking to counter China’s increasing influence and might in the region. United States is desperately looking for new partners in Asia as Japan seems no longer capable of countering China’s increasing economic, military and strategic prowess.

The Catch

The author of the report has specified that in order to ensure the successful execution of this ambitious program India would have to sign the Missile Technology Control Regime which prevents the proliferation of missile technology. India has thus far refused to sign the MTCR. Perhaps, realizing the strategic and energy-related advantages of this projects the two countries can work out a solution similar to the Indo-US nuclear deal which gave India access to nuclear fuel and technology even though it is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty.

India and the United States have long history of space science cooperation. The United States helped the Indian Space Research Organization to help launch some of India’s earliest satellites in 1970s. Earlier this year, the two countries signed a historic agreement allowing ISRO to launch non-commercial, US-made satellites. It was NASA’s Moon Mineralogy Mapper riding on India’s first unmanned moon orbiter, Chandryaan-1, that detected the presence of water ice on the moon in 2009.

Image: NASA

The views presented in the above article are author’s personal views and do not represent those of TERI/TERI University where the author is currently pursuing a Master’s degree.
From: http://www.hollywoodissues.com/tag/council
Missile Man of India: Latest News Updates India and the US should explore the feasibility of a space-based solar power (SBSP) programme with the ultimate aim of putting in place a commercially viable system by 2025, a report by a defence ministry funded think tank says.
There is, however, a catch. India would first have to accede to the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) before the system is put in place, says the report that has been prepared by Peter Garretson, a US Air Force lieutenant colonel on a sabbatical as an international fellow at the New Delhi-based Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA).
Noting that SBSP can be ‘the next major step in the Indo-US strategic partnership’, the 174-page report says the launch of such a potentially revolutionary programme can begin with a joint statement by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and US President Barak Obama during the latter’s visit to New Delhi in November.
Besides helping to ’solve the linked problems of energy security, development and climate change’, the SBSP will provide an opportunity for India to use its successful space programme while shaping a future peaceful space regime, Garretson said.
He has proposed a three-tiered programme, moving from basic technology and capacity building to a multi-lateral demonstrator and ultimately to an international commercial public-private-partnership entity to supply commercial power in the 2025 timeframe.
The report concludes that SBSP ‘does appear to be a good fit for the US domestic, Indian domestic and bilateral agendas, and there are adequate political space and precursor agreements to begin a bilateral program’.
Expanding on the three-stage plan, Garretson says an initial five-year $10-30 million programme will develop contributing technologies and build a competent work force culminating in a roadmap for a demonstration prototype.
A second, $10 billion, 10-year phase will see the formation of an international consortium to construct a sub-scale space solar power system that can directly be scaled up by industry. The final stage will entail India-US leadership to set up an international for-profit consortium along the lines of the INTELSAT model to address energy security and carbon mitigation concerns.
The overall program goal must be to enable, by 2025, space-based solar power as a viable economic replacement for fossil fuel energy, and second, to position the US and Indian technical and industrial bases to enjoy a competitive edge in what is expected to be a significant and profitable market,’ the report says.
Garretson says that the US and India have demonstrated via a number of recent steps that they are ready for a deeper partnership, inclusive of sensitive and strategic technology in space and energy.
‘An international SBSP demo project is within reach of present engineering and mega science budgets, and can be done with existing launch vehicles,’ he says.
From the US side, the programme can be managed out of the Department of State’s Office of Ocean Environment and Science with funds coming from the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency for Energy. On the Indian side, the report says, the high-level oversight can be provided by the Prime Minister’s Council on Climate Change.
According to the report, such a programme linking the technical bases of the world’s largest democracies might be a way out of India’s (and the world’s) climate-energy dilemma.
‘It will also become one of the grandest and most ambitious humanitarian and environmentalist causes that will be sure to excite a generation as did the Apollo program that put a man on the moon,’ the report says.
From: http://blog.cleantechies.com/2010/09/21/new-report-us-and-india-solar-energy-space/
New Report Asks US and India to Take Solar Energy Into Space
JustmeansPublished on Date September 21st, 2010 by Justmeans
Posted in Category Asia-Pacific, Category North America, Category Solar
Several months ago, I mentioned the Shimizu Corporation’s plan to place solar panels on the moon to generate renewable energy that would be transferred back to Earth and distributed along power lines. Shimizu Corporation’s hope was that they could begin working on their project sometime in 2020 when Japan planned to have a solar powered base upon the moon. Now, a plan coming out of India is suggesting that it is time for India and the United States to form a partnership that would allow them to begin developing a program for space solar power.

The report pushing for space based solar energy was published by a think tank that is being supported by the Indian Defense Ministry with the aid of one Lieutenant Colonel Peter Garretson of the United States Air Force. The report lays out a three step plan that would have India and the United States entered into a commercial energy business venture that would be generating large quantities of solar energy from installations placed in orbit around the Earth. The first stage, according to the report, details how an investment of $10 – $30 million over the course of five years would be required to develop the technology required for both the satellites and the means in which to deliver them to space. The second step would see a further investment of nearly $10 billion over the course of ten years as the two countries developed a system to retrieve and sell the power on a commercial and industrial scale. The final scale would have the two countries establishing what the report calls an “international for-profit consortium … to address energy security and carbon mitigation concerns.” This would result in a fully realized program, ideally, by 2025.

The research and the proposed program for solar energy are mired in a variety of political obstacles. While the creation of a large scale solar program like this would go far in aiding India in cutting down on carbon emissions without taking up already precious city space they would be required to sign the Missile Technology Control Regime treaty. The agreement, which was signed in 1987 by several nations to prevent the proliferation of missile technology, has long been refused by India. The report also indicates that it would be necessary to coordinate their efforts with the United Nations and other countries in order to prepare for the increased amount of travel that would be going to and from Earth as a consequence of initiating this program. Though the political issues remain, the people involved are confident they would be easy to remedy and are optimistic that an agreement can be made between India and the United States regarding this program in November when President Obama plans to meet with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Though some may be concerned that tossing more satellites into Earth’s orbit would be contributing to the already crowded situation going on up there, the fact remains that this would be a considerable leap forward for solar energy. Taking solar energy collection into space also presents an ideal alternative to countries like India or Japan who are faced with the obstacle of limited space within their nations for the construction of vast solar farms. With any luck, the next news we may hear about this project may come in November during the aforementioned visit.

Article by Richard Cooke, appearing courtesy Justmeans.

From:
American Indian Solar Space Partnership
Wednesday, 22 September 2010 GreenMuze Staff

An Indian Defense Ministry-backed report suggests a joint US$10 billion (€7.65 billion) Indian-US space based solar power generation program would be good for political relations as well as reducing greenhouse gases. US Air Force lieutenant colonel Peter Garretson, in conjunction with the Institute of Defense Studies, New Delhi (India), wrote a report recommending the Indian and US governments forge a strategic partnership to make space-based solar energy commercially viable by 2025. President Obama’s November visit to India may be the venue to announce the partnership.

The proposal is to have a five year pre-program development program, costing US$10-30 million (€7.65 - €22.96 million) to eliminate risk and to identify the advanced technology needed for the project. Followed by a US$10 billion (€7.65 billion), ten year international project to design, manufacture, and launch an orbital solar power generation system.

Since India and the US are both major greenhouse gas emitters, developing technology that will reduce their emissions is seen as a progressive approach to dealing with climate change. India has great solar power potential but scarce land areas to implement it, while the US would like to be a world leader in the renewable energy and, being a late entrant in the field, needs to play catch up.

A space-based system therefore seems to fit into the plans of both countries. For India, it is a potential major international step up, and a great opportunity to grow in stature in Asia, and counter China’s growing influence. Unfortunately, politics always gets in the way, and India has yet to sign the Missile Technology Control Regime, meant to prevent the spread of missile technology. The US is concerned about the spread of nuclear weapons technology (such as from Pakistan to North Korea) and nuclear weapons delivery systems.

In a world facing great uncertainty due to the causes, effects and consequences of global climate change, it seems the last thing that we need is to add in global politics that are likely to muddy the waters and likely add greater risk of projects failing to deliver on their clean energy promises.

From: http://overseasindian.in/2010/sept/news/20101409-095018.shtml
India-US solar power initiative urged

Bengaluru, Sep 14 India and the U.S. should explore the feasibility of a space-based solar power (SBSP) programme with the ultimate aim of putting in place a commercially viable system by 2025, a report by a Defence Ministry funded think tank says.

There is, however, a catch. India would first have to accede to the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) before the system is put in place, says the report that has been prepared by Peter Garretson, a US Air Force lieutenant colonel on a sabbatical as an international fellow at the New Delhi-based Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA).

Noting that SBSP can be "the next major step in the Indo-US strategic partnership", the 174-page report says the launch of such a potentially revolutionary programme can begin with a joint statement by Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and U.S. President Barak Obama during the latter's visit to New Delhi in November.

Besides helping to "solve the linked problems of energy security, development and climate change", the SBSP will provide an opportunity for India to use its successful space programme while shaping a future peaceful space regime, Garretson said.

He has proposed a three-tiered programme, moving from basic technology and capacity building to a multi-lateral demonstrator and ultimately to an international commercial public-private-partnership entity to supply commercial power in the 2025 timeframe.

The report concludes that SBSP "does appear to be a good fit for the U.S. domestic, Indian domestic and bilateral agendas, and there are adequate political space and precursor agreements to begin a bilateral programme".

Expanding on the three-stage plan, Garretson says an initial five-year $10-30 million programme will develop contributing technologies and build a competent work force culminating in a roadmap for a demonstration prototype.

A second, $10 billion, 10-year phase will see the formation of an international consortium to construct a sub-scale space solar power system that can directly be scaled up by industry. The final stage will entail India-US leadership to set up an international for-profit consortium along the lines of the INTELSAT model to address energy security and carbon mitigation concerns.

"The overall program goal must be to enable, by 2025, space-based solar power as a viable economic replacement for fossil fuel energy, and second, to position the US and Indian technical and industrial bases to enjoy a competitive edge in what is expected to be a significant and profitable market," the report says.

Garretson says that the U.S. and India have demonstrated via a number of recent steps that they are ready for a deeper partnership, inclusive of sensitive and strategic technology in space and energy.

"An international SBSP demo project is within reach of present engineering and mega science budgets, and can be done with existing launch vehicles," he says.

From the US side, the programme can be managed out of the Department of State's Office of Ocean Environment and Science with funds coming from the Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency for Energy. On the Indian side, the report says, the high-level oversight can be provided by the Prime Minister's Council on Climate Change.

According to the report, such a programme linking the technical bases of the world's largest democracies might be a way out of India's (and the world's) climate-energy dilemma.

"It will also become one of the grandest and most ambitious humanitarian and environmentalist causes that will be sure to excite a generation as did the Apollo program that put a man on the moon," the report says.

"If there is a desire to pursue simultaneous development of low cost access to orbit, then the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) assurance document must be signed (by India)," the report says.

India has thus far resolutely declined to sign the MTCR, terming it discriminatory.

It is also important that direct engagement with United Nations governance bodies will be required, even before the demonstration stage, "to cope with the significantly increased traffic to and from and in space", the report says.

 From: http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=it&u=http://www.bnrenergia.it/leggi_news.asp%3Fid%3D1208&ei=CxWeTLuWOsKBlAfK94CnCg&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CEUQ7gEwBg&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dindia%2BUS%2Bspace%2Bsolar%2Bpower%2Bsite:.it%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26hs%3D4iC%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26tbs%3Dqdr:m
India and U.S., the future rulers of the photovoltaic space?

A new brick could be added to the long history of scientific cooperation between two of the biggest polluters in the world.  A report published by the Indian Ministry of Defence suggests that the two countries can pave the way for a program to use solar energy in orbit
 (Rinnovabili.it) - A great opportunity for collaboration and growth in the energy is introduced to India and the U.S. to jointly launch a program to capture solar energy in space to be transformed into a commercially viable by 2025 . To support and the report compiled by Peter Garretson, a U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel who worked in collaboration with the Institute for Research and Defense Analysis in New Delhi.
The report calls on the governments of both countries to extend their strategic partnership, already well proven in the field of an astronaut on a pioneering project to harness the solar energy in space.  A program that dell'SBSP (Space-Based Solar Power), truly revolutionary not only for bilateral relations between India and the United States but for all the objectives of energy security, supply and fight against Climate Change in it. Both, in fact, affected by the pressure from several fronts on the production of greenhouse gas emissions and seek new and innovative sources of clean energy supply has become the 'gold rush' of these years
 The authors are also firmly convinced that the program provides the opportunity to win New Delhi to move forward in its perpetual competition with China.
The idea contained in 174 pages is that which is already the currency
 Japan

Pacific Gas & Electric Pacific Gas & Electric
 Position in geostationary orbit solar collectors can gather solar radiation, 24 h 24 h with an efficiency much higher than the unitary ground installations, and then be sent back to earth via microwaves.
Garretson proposes a three-level, through the development of technology demonstrator based on a multi-lateral, to the creation of an international body based on a public-private partnership for commercial energy supply by the year 2025.
For the Asian giant, however, there is an obstacle, well outlined in the report, the failure to adhere to the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) - India considered discriminatory -, however, a delicate issue at the international level.  Once approved, the MTCR, the author explains, the operation of the program would require "only" an initial funding in the order of 10-30 million dollars to cover a period of 5 years and 10 billion dollars for the next decade .

From: http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=it&u=http://www.greenme.it/informarsi/energie-rinnovabili/3080-fotovoltaico-spaziale-nel-2025-partira-un-maxi-programma-congiunto-usa-india&ei=CxWeTLuWOsKBlAfK94CnCg&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=10&ved=0CE8Q7gEwCQ&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dindia%2BUS%2Bspace%2Bsolar%2Bpower%2Bsite:.it%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26hs%3D4iC%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26tbs%3Dqdr:m

Photovoltaic space: in 2025 will start a joint program maxi USA - India?

Martedì 21 Settembre 2010 15:11 Scritto da Piergiorgio Pescarolo Tuesday, September 21, 2010 15:11 Written by Piergiorgio Pescarolo

fotovoltaico_spaziale

Allies in a big program calendar to be launched into space by 2025.  . E 'can be the result of a technical partnership to address eco friendly between India and U.S. , and which would, in fifteen years, creating a system of commercial exploitation of space photovoltaics .
He informed these days, a report conducted by Peter Garretson , Lieutenant-Colonel 's U.S. Air Force, who worked together to' study for the Institute for Defense Analyses and New Delhi, on the development a joint project between the two powers. More specifically, the report indicates a request to be made to both governments (India and the USA) to verify the conditions for the extension of a partnership in exploiting the ' solar energy in space for which has already been identified Name: SBSP ( Space-Based Solar Power ).

On a technical level, the project includes the placement of solar collectors in geostationary orbit, which are able to capture the sun's radiation, and send them to Earth via a microwave system. The procurement, in that case, would be constant (24 hours out of 24) and lead to significantly higher efficiency when compared with terrestrial plants.

 This would be an extension of the strategic alliance already in place in the field of aerospace, and which - if implemented - could prove to be innovative in the political relationship between the U.S. and India, and for the purposes ecologic and contained in the report: in it, In fact, we speak of the need for energy security of supply and climate change all "voices" to which both countries should take into account.  If for no other reason than the economic aspect of the matter: the field of research and development in renewable energy is the most important frontier in the economy in recent years.

The "Indian side," however, will be prejudiced by not adhering to the Missile Technology Control Plan (MTCR - Missile Technology Control Regime), India believes that it is discriminatory and that, internationally, an issue to be addressed carefully.

Lieutenant Colonel Garretson, however, assumed - once past this obstacle - even the need for financial supply for the project: a first tranche of funding (albeit nebulous, since it indicates an amount ranging from 10 to 30 million dollars) for the first 5 years, and a second appropriation (listed in the $ 10 billion) would cover the next decade.

Piergiorgio Pescarolo Piergiorgio Pescarolo


16 September 2010

Why Not Space Solar Power?

Spacenews has published an OpEd by Don Flournoy on Space Solar Power
Why Not Space Solar Power?
Mon, 13 September, 2010
By Don Flournoy
The 2010 U.S. National Space Policy, which supports a robust and competitive commercial space sector, is good news for those of us working to design and launch the new types of satellites that will collect solar energy in space and deliver it to Earth as a nonpolluting source of electrical power.
Among the goals of President Barack Obama’s National Space Policy is expansion of international cooperation on mutually beneficial space activities to “broaden and extend the benefits of space” and “further the peaceful use of space.”
As members of the National Space Society, the Society of Satellite Professionals International and the Space Energy Group, we believe space, as a shared resource, can best be explored and developed by a partnership of nations and businesses working together.
Since acquiring clean and abundant energy is a common requirement for economic growth and an eventual necessity for the health of all societies, harvesting space solar power is a logical human endeavor when the high frontier is precisely where energy is most plentiful. But achieving success doing large-scale commercial innovation in outer space requires long-range planning, pooling of financial resources, sharing of knowledge and expertise, and the careful framing of a way forward that will earn and sustain the public trust.
In naming the CEOs who will serve on his new advisory board on trade issues, Obama noted in July that the U.S. is on track to double exports in the next five years, and he pointed to some of the ways the American economy is being repositioned to better compete abroad. When adding that announcement to the outcomes of the June summit of the Group of 20 major industrial countries in Canada and recent federal policy statements intimating that (certain) export controls will be relaxed and cooperation in space will be encouraged, it would appear that the U.S. could be entering a new era of openness for international business.
To this end, we would like to see some greater leadership and support given to space solar power development by NASA and the U.S. departments of Energy and Commerce. A helpful first step would be a U.S.-led space solar power feasibility study to which all interested nations are invited to contribute.
In the context of the U.S. National Space Policy, such a feasibility study could lead the way in assessing and promoting “appropriate cost and risk sharing among participating nations in international partnerships.” It would demonstrate U.S. “tangible leadership in space,” leveraging the capabilities of allies while assuring continuing adherence to the U.N. Treaty on Exploration and Use of Outer Space — now signed by 125 states, including China and India — that dictates “nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction” shall not be placed in outer space.
At the International Space Development Conference held in Chicago in May, multiple nations participated in a National Space Society-initiated Solar Power Symposium to examine in depth opportunities and challenges for energy generation in near space. Former Indian President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, scientist, aeronautical engineer and proponent of space solar power, addressing the symposium via videoconference, spoke to the need for international cooperation in space. He proposed a multilateral global initiative that could map out for us what needs to be done to bring space solar power to operational reality.
From our perspective, space solar power is a meaningful science, engineering and commercial challenge that deserves our attention and investment. In the wake of the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster, we think it is time for the U.S. to put space solar power on our national energy agenda. At the same time, we must seek opportunities to learn from and participate with Canada, China, India, Japan, the European Union and others taking their first tentative steps to bring space solar energy to Earth.
In a June Times of India commentary on strategic international diplomacy, U.S. Sen. John Kerry expressed support for a partnership with India that would include “the quest for new technologies and fresh ideas for economically viable ways to speed the shift to renewable energy sources.”
We believe that within the mainstream of global science, engineering and environmental management there are game-changing ideas and technologies that await testing. It is time to see some space solar power demonstration projects. Of all the possible alternative energy sources on the near horizon, we believe space solar power is our best chance for addressing the worldwide challenges of climate change, renewable energy and continued economic growth.
__________
Don Flournoy is a professor and editor of the Online Journal of Space Communication (www.spacejournal.org) at Ohio University. This article also reflects the opinions of Robert Bell of the Society of Satellite Professionals International, Mark Hopkins of the National Space Society, Stephan Tennsel of Space Energy AG, and Feng Hsu of the Space Energy Group.

More news and blog entries on the Indo-US SBSP proposal:

India-US space-based solar power plan could solve major energy issues - study
(ADPnews) - Sep 14, 2010 - A space-based solar power (SBSP) programme developed by India and the US could solve the energy security and climate change issues, according to a report by US Air Force lieutenant colonel Peter Garretson.

Garretson, who is on a sabbatical as an international fellow at the institute for defence studies and analyses in New Delhi, considers that the two countries should conduct a feasibility analysis on such a programme, whose aim will be to replace fossil fuel energy with SBSP by 2025. However, in order to work on such a plan, India should first sign the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) document, which the country declined to do earlier, deeming it discriminatory.

In his report, Garretson has included a three-phase plan, which starts with an initial five-year programme costing USD 10 million to USD 30 million for the development of contributing technologies and competent workforce. It is followed by a USD-10-billion investment in the construction of a sub-scale space solar power system over a 10-year period. The concluding stage envisages the establishment of an Indian-US consortium to face energy security and carbon mitigation issues.

Such a SBSP programme could be managed by the US Department of State's Office of Ocean Environment and Science and the Prime Minister's Council on Climate Change in India, according to Garretson's report.

Making the Case An Indo-USA Space-Based Solar Power Programme
By Bill Moore
I had a rude awakening this evening. What began as a casual journey into India's space programme -- the reasons will be apparent momentarily -- ended with the sobering realization that along with the sub-continent's explosive economic growth and the rise of the middle class, also comes the apparent need to flex its political muscles militarily in the form of nuclear submarines -- the first launched last year with more on order -- tactical transport aircraft jointly developed with the Russians, and even their own armada of aircraft carriers. And then there's their plan to send men to the moon by 2016.
I've been reading Peter Garretson's 2009 research paper for Indian Defense Studies and Analysis entitled, "Sky's No Limit: Space-based Solar Power, The Next Major Step in the Indo-US Strategic Partnership?" It is a heavily footnoted document of some 174 pages and six appendices. In it, Garretson makes the case that the next step in the United States and India's strategic relationship should be establishment of a "big policy" programme (I'll use the British spelling) to put solar power generation systems in earth orbit. While the paper doesn't go into the technological issues, it does focus on the policy implementation barriers of such a collaboration.
Of course, as a parochial American with only a passing knowledge of Indian food -- which I love -- and Bollywood movies -- which I also find highly entertaining as long as I can keep up with the English subtitles -- I asked myself was India, in fact, technologically capable of making a meaningful contribution to such a programme? Sure, their Chandrayaan-1 moon mission was an impressive achievement, discovering evidence for water, but could they really be expected to lift millions of pounds of components into geosynchronous orbit to build hundreds, even thousands of 5 km width solar arrays?
The answer is, in fact, yes. The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has a series of launch vehicles; the largest being the GSLV III, now in development, will be capable of lifting 4,500kg (10,000 lbs) of payload into geosynchronous transfer orbit, putting it on a par with competing American and French launch vehicles. Importantly, it appears they can do it rather cheaply. The Chandrayaan-1 mission in 2008 cost just US$79 million.
And why should India or the United States even consider such an initiative, either alone or in partnership? Besides the fact that the Japanese are spending money on their own SBSP program and plan to have a 1 GW platform in orbit by 2030, you mean? Garretson takes pains to explain that it may, in fact, be the only choice the planet has to provide humanity with the clean, pollution-free, electric power it needs, especially in populous nations like India where 50-60% of it citizens will be living in cities by 2039. At present, India, as well as the United States, depends on coal-fired power plants for half of its electricl power generation capacity. It is estimated India's coal reserves will last 80 years, but Garretson points out that at a projected growth rate of just 5 percent a year, those reserves will be exhausted in 45 years; and this doesn't even address the critical problem of water shortages in India, water on which thermoelectric power plants, both fossil fuel and nuclear, are dependent.
So, why not simply build vast solar farms in India's Thar Desert, which stretches across the northwestern states of Rajasthan and Gujara, and occupies more than 2.5 million square kilometers? Efficiency and intermittency are why. All earth-bound solar installations suffer from the same problem: the sun shines on them only part of the day and the atmosphere -- and its associated weather -- reduce their efficiency even further. Space-based solar stations can provide solar power, transmitted back to earth in the form of low-frequency radio waves, 24 hours a day at the sun's maximum power rate of 1330+ watts per meter. At least that's the theory. Those same radio waves have to penetrate the atmosphere and its weather, be converted by circular farms of specially-designed rectenna's with 80 percent-plus efficiency back to electric power and then distributed to urban centers. In a footnote(14) on page 23 of Garretson's paper, it is estimated that only two percent of the energy transmitted down to earth would be lost in the form of heat, and that the type of radio wave being considered will have no or virtually no impact on humans or animals. He notes that, "NASA, DOE, and EPA have conducted extensive experiments to assess if there were ill effects to biological life or the upper atmosphere due to such beams. None of the studies conducted so far suggest that there is any significant detrimental effect."
Assuming all other objections and technical issues can be resolved, what's the potential of SBSP and what's its cost? Citing studies by James Snead and Harry Stine (footnote 10, page 22) Garretson estimates, "the exploitable energy in orbit exceeds not just the electrical demand of the planet today, but the total energy needs of a fully developed planet with over 10 billion people." As for the question of cost, Sky's No Limit estimates that the world currently spends $6 trillion on energy of all forms annually. Most of that energy produces highly undesirably pollution and climate change, which SBSP would not. Further, SBSP would make no environmental demands on the planet's freshwater supply.
The idea would certainly seem to have merit. Imagine an EV world where all our motor vehicles are powered by electricity transmitted from thousands of orbiting solar stations. However, moving such a project from the dreamer's stage to the schemer's stage will prove the first major obstacle to overcome. If nothing else, Sky's No Limit makes thought-provoking reading. It certainly opened my eyes to the state of technological development taking place in India beyond Tata Nanos, Revas and Hero electric bicycles.

New Space Energy Newsletter:
http://www.spaceenergy.com/AnnouncementRetrieve.aspx?ID=56424
It reviews the IDSA-CFR paper on Indo-US Space Solar Power cooperation.


Introduction of Peter Garretson´s New SBSP Paper: "Sky´s No Limit"

Hot off the press, Space Energy is proud to announce the publication of the latest paper from one of the original SBSP `caballeros´, Peter Garretson, entitled “Sky’s No Limit: Space-Based Solar Power, the Next Major Step in the Indo-US Strategic Partnership?”

Referred to as IDSA Occasional Paper No. 9, this paper provides a policymaker's overview of a highly scalable, revolutionary, renewable energy technology, Space-Based Solar Power (SBSP), and evaluates its utility within the context of the Indo-US strategic partnership.  After providing an overview of the concept and its significance to the compelling problems of sustainable growth, economic development, energy security and climate change, it evaluates the utility of the concept in the context of respective Indian and US political and energy-climate trajectories.  The paper concludes that a bilateral initiative to develop Space-Based Solar Power is highly consistent with the objectives of the Indo-US strategic partnership, and ultimately recommends an actionable three-tiered programme to realize its potential.

Peter Garretson's credentials are unparalleled.  He was a Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), International Fellow in India, and a Visiting Fellow at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) in New Delhi.  He is an active duty Air Force officer on sabbatical as an Air Force Fellow.  He was previously the Chief of Future Science and Technology Exploration for Headquarters Air Force, Directorate of Strategic Plans and Programs, and is a former DARPA Service Chiefs’ Intern, and former Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) Service Academy Research Associate.  He is a published author on Space Grand Strategy, and is a recipient of the National Space Society’s (NSS) Space Pioneer Award.

Peter Garretson´s past IDSA papers can be found here.

A presentation made by the author of the IDSA-CFR Report can be downloaded from here: