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Orbital solar panels could resolve all power needs The Daily Star - ‎3 hours ago‎ The study said government pump-priming likely would be needed to get the concept, known as space solar power, to market. Private-sector funding is unlikely to proceed alone because of the “economic uncertainties” of the development and demonstration ... Solar satellite plan blasts fossil fuels with eco-laser SlashGear - ‎3 hours ago‎ This project notes that the space solar power solution would be a long-term energy fix for Earth that would include a potential for “essentially zero” terrestrial environmental impact. The study's environmental impact bit is according to the National ... Scientists Predict Giant Orbiting Power Plants CouldPower the Earth by 2041 Inhabitat - ‎4 hours ago‎ Solar power has been studied and tested for nearly 40 years, but only within the last few years have we seen innovations truly make leaps and bounds. Looking towards the future, scientists are now saying with the technology we ... Tomorrow's energy will come from space based solarstations, no later than 2016 ZME Science - ‎6 hours ago‎ Space solar stations are not a new idea at all – they have been researched since the 1970; but as years pass, scientists understand more and more the numerous benefits this type of technology could bring – a true revolution in renewable energy. ... Space-based solar power collectors possible in twenty years Geek.com - ‎6 hours ago‎ It would also cut down on fossil fuel emissions since solar is “clean” energy. Critics of the study say that the IAA didn't do broad enough research, or an accurate cost analysis in its findings. They are afraid that the cost of development is still ... Space Lasers! (for Clean Energy, Obviously) CleanTechnica - ‎8 hours ago‎ Orbiting solar power stations have been a continuous source of debate for decades – someone always brings up the idea of power plants IN SPACE and it always gets shot down as being unfeasible. (What's not realistic about having energy beamed down from... Enormous orbiting solar raygun power plants touted Register - ‎8 hours ago‎ NASA's former head of concepts John Mankins (now head of Artemis Innovation Management Solutions of California) is quoted as saying “solar power derived fromspace could play a tremendously important role in meeting the global need for energyduring ... Giant orbiting power plants could harvest the sun'senergy to provide world's ... Mail on Sunday - ‎9 hours ago‎ The study said government money would probably be needed to get the concept, known as space solar power, to market. Private-sector funding is unlikely to proceed alone because of the 'economic uncertainties' of the development, it said. ... Giant orbiting power plants could harvest the sun'senergy to provide world's ... Daily Mail - ‎10 hours ago‎ The study said government money would probably be needed to get the concept, known as space solar power, to market. Private-sector funding is unlikely to proceed alone because of the 'economic uncertainties' of the development, it said. ... Giant orbiting power plants could harvest the sun'senergy to provide world's ... Daily Mail - ‎10 hours ago‎ The study said government money would probably be needed to get the concept, known as space solar power, to market. Private-sector funding is unlikely to proceed alone because of the 'economic uncertainties' of the development, it said. ... Spaced based solar power stations of the future The Economic Voice - ‎12 hours ago‎ This will be a 1 kilometre wide free floating Mylar mirror, which will focus the sun's rays onto a smaller mirror aimed at solar panels. They hope to have it in place by 2016. The Japanese also hope to have their version of a space based solar energy ... Energy of the Future: Spaced Based Solar Stations OilPrice.com - ‎13 hours ago‎ Space based solar power stations are not a new idea, in fact they have been researched since the 1970's. Back in 2009 the Californian state regulators granted approval to the Pacific Gas & Electric Co. and Solaren Corp. to start creating a solarbased ... Orbital solar plants could power Earth Mumbai Mirror - ‎14 hours ago‎ The study said government pump-priming likely would be needed to get the concept, known as space solar power, to market. Private-sector funding is unlikely to proceed alone because of the “economic uncertainties” of the development and demonstration ... Space solar power station possible within three decades – IAA EcoSeed - ‎15 hours ago‎ The International Academy of Astronautics has completed the first international study looking into whether collecting solar energy out in space is possible. While it found that the idea of a space solar power or SSP system is technically feasible ... IAA says 'Yes We Can' to power plants in orbit PhysOrg.com - ‎17 hours ago‎ The IAA's three-year, ten-nation study, as the first broadly based international assessment of collecting solar energy in space, is considered significant. The study was conducted from 2008 to 2010 and was under peer review. John Mankins, the former... Could space lasers deliver clean energybreakthrough? Environmental Expert (press release) - ‎22 hours ago‎ Orbiting solar power stations could meet much of the world's energy requirements within 30 years, according to a major new study to be released later today. The report from the International Academy of Astronautics, an advanced copy of which was ... Orbital solar power plants touted for energy needs TODAYonline - ‎Nov 14, 2011‎ The concept, known as space solar power, is a potential long-term energy solution for Earth with "essentially zero" terrestrial environmental impact, according to the National Space Society, an advocacy group that was set to publicise the study at a ... Exclusive: Orbital solar power plants touted forenergy needs ECNmag.com - ‎Nov 14, 2011‎ The study said government pump-priming likely would be needed to get the concept, known as space solar power, to market. Private-sector funding is unlikely to proceed alone because of the "economic uncertainties" of the development and demonstration ... Orbital solar plants could help solve Earth's energycrisis Globe and Mail - ‎Nov 14, 2011‎ The study said government pump-priming likely would be needed to get the concept, known as space solar power, to market. Private-sector funding is unlikely to proceed alone because of the “economic uncertainties” of the development and demonstration ... Orbital solar power plants could meet Earth's energyneeds msnbc.com - ‎Nov 14, 2011‎ The study said government pump-priming likely would be needed to get the concept, known as space solar power, to market. Private-sector funding is unlikely to proceed alone because of the "economic uncertainties" of the development and demonstration ... Solar Power in Orbit Energy and Capital - ‎Nov 14, 2011‎ According to the report, which will be made public at a conference in Washington on Monday, the most effective way to obtain solar power would be in space. The report shows that within 30 years it could be possible to power the globe this way. ... Orbital solar power plants touted for energy needs Mother Nature Network - ‎Nov 14, 2011‎ The study said government pump-priming likely would be needed to get the concept, known as space solar power, to market. Private-sector funding is unlikely to proceed alone because of the "economic uncertainties" of the development and demonstration ... Orbiting stations would harvest sun's energy Vancouver Sun - ‎Nov 14, 2011‎ The study said government pump-priming likely would be needed to get the concept, known as space solar power, to market. Private-sector funding is unlikely to proceed alone because of the "economic uncertainties" of the development and demonstration ... Space, solar power's next frontier? SmartPlanet.com (blog) - ‎Nov 14, 2011‎ Private companies have also latched onto the idea of space based solar power. Solaren Corp. struck a deal with Pacific Gas & Electric to begin supplying PG&E with celestial solar energy in 2016. Under IAA's proposal, satellites would be positioned in... Orbital solar power plants touted for energy needs DAWN.com - ‎Nov 14, 2011‎ The study said government pump-priming likely would be needed to get the concept, known as space solar power, to market. Private-sector funding is unlikely to proceed alone because of the “economic uncertainties” of the development and demonstration ... Could space lasers deliver clean energybreakthrough? Business Green - ‎Nov 14, 2011‎ According to Reuters, the paper provides little precise detail on how the technology could be deployed, nor on the estimated cost of new solar power stations, each of which would be several kilometres across. However, it does state that space solar ... Orbital solar power plants touted for energy needs BusinessLIVE - ‎Nov 14, 2011‎ The study said government pump-priming likely would be needed to get the concept, known as space solar power, to market. Private-sector funding is unlikely to proceed alone because of the "economic uncertainties" of the development and demonstration ... Harvesting sun's power in space 'feasible': study Calgary Herald - ‎Nov 14, 2011‎ "It is clear that solar power delivered from space could play a tremendously important role in meeting the global need for energy during the 21st century," according to the study led by John Mankins, a 25-year NASA veteran and the US space agency's ... Harnessing the power of the sun Independent Online - ‎Nov 14, 2011‎ The study said government pump-priming likely would be needed to get the concept, known as space solar power, to market. Private-sector funding is unlikely to proceed alone because of the “economic uncertainties” of the development and demonstration ...

Space solar power can solve energy crisis Khaleej Times - ‎Nov 13, 2011‎ The study was billed as the first broadly based international assessment of potential paths to collecting solar energy in space and delivering it to markets on Earth via wireless power transmission. The study said government pump-priming likely would ... Space solar power touted for energy needs ABC Online - ‎Nov 13, 2011‎ Orbiting solar panels Harvesting the Sun's energy from space could provide a cost-effective way to meet global power needs in as little as 30 years, says an international scientific group. Orbiting power plants capable of collecting solar energy and ... Giant solar space panels tipped to power cars, homes of future Irish Independent - ‎Nov 13, 2011‎ SCIENTISTS are working on a revolutionary plan to supply the world's energy needs by building solar power stations in space. Orbiting power plants capable of collectingsolar energy and beaming it to Earth will be "technically ... Orbital solar power plants touted for energy needs Bangladesh News 24 hours - ‎Nov 13, 2011‎ The study said government pump-priming likely would be needed to get the concept, known as space solar power, to market. Private-sector funding is unlikely to proceed alone because of the "economic uncertainties" of the development and demonstration ... Orbital solar plants 'can solve energy crisis' Gulf Daily News - ‎Nov 13, 2011‎ It said government pump-priming likely would be needed to get the space solar powerconcept to market. Private-sector funding is unlikely to proceed alone because of the "economic uncertainties" of the development and demonstration phases and the time ... Orbital Solar Power Plants Touted for Energy Needs International Business Times - ‎Nov 13, 2011‎ The study said government pump-priming likely would be needed to get the concept, known as space solar power, to market. Private-sector funding is unlikely to proceed alone because of the "economic uncertainties" of the development and demonstration ... Orbital solar power plants touted for energy needs Arab News - ‎Nov 13, 2011‎ The study said government pump-priming likely would be needed to get the concept, known as space solar power, to market. Private-sector funding is unlikely to proceed alone because of the “economic uncertainties” of the development and demonstration ... Orbital solar power plants touted for energy needs The News International - ‎Nov 13, 2011‎ The study said government pump-priming likely would be needed to get the concept, known as space solar power, to market. Private-sector funding is unlikely to proceed alone because of the "economic uncertainties" of the development and demonstration ... Orbital solar power plants touted for energy needs Vision Insights and New Horizons - ‎Nov 13, 2011‎ The study said government pump-priming likely would be needed to get the concept, known as space solar power, to market. Private-sector funding is unlikely to proceed alone because of the "economic uncertainties" of the development and demonstration ... Exclusive - Orbital solar power plants touted forenergy needs Reuters UK - ‎Nov 13, 2011‎ The study said government pump-priming likely would be needed to get the concept, known as space solar power, to market. Private-sector funding is unlikely to proceed alone because of the "economic uncertainties" of the development and demonstration ... Orbital solar power plants touted for energy needs Khaleej Times - ‎Nov 13, 2011‎ The study said government pump-priming likely would be needed to get the concept, known as space solar power, to market. Private-sector funding is unlikely to proceed alone because of the “economic uncertainties” of the development and demonstration ... Exclusive: Orbital solar power plants touted forenergy needs Reuters UK - ‎Nov 13, 2011‎ The study said government pump-priming likely would be needed to get the concept, known as space solar power, to market. Private-sector funding is unlikely to proceed alone because of the "economic uncertainties" of the development and demonstration ... Exclusive: Orbital solar power plants touted forenergy needs CNBC.com - ‎Nov 13, 2011‎ The study said government pump-priming likely would be needed to get the concept, known as space solar power, to market. Private-sector funding is unlikely to proceed alone because of the "economic uncertainties" of the development and demonstration ... EXCLUSIVE-Orbital solar power plants touted forenergy needs Reuters AlertNet - ‎Nov 13, 2011‎ The study said government pump-priming likely would be needed to get the concept, known as space solar power, to market. Private-sector funding is unlikely to proceed alone because of the "economic uncertainties" of the development and demonstration ... Exclusive: Orbital solar power plants touted forenergy needs Reuters India - ‎Nov 13, 2011‎ The study said government pump-priming likely would be needed to get the concept, known as space solar power, to market. Private-sector funding is unlikely to proceed alone because of the "economic uncertainties" of the development and demonstration ... Orbital solar power plants touted for energy needs Kyiv Post - ‎Nov 13, 2011‎ The study said government pump-priming likely would be needed to get the concept, known as space solar power, to market. Private-sector funding is unlikely to proceed alone because of the "economic uncertainties" of the development and demonstration ...

IAA to Reveal their new study on Space-Based Solar Power

The International Academy of Astronautics, the "who's who" technical society of the international space community, will be unveiling its 3-year, 10-nation study "Green Energy from Space Solar Power" at a Press Conference Sponsored by the National Space Society (NSS) on 14 November, at the National Press Club.

Will Obama second Kalam-NSS Initiative while in India?

From: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/6886049.cms?prtpage=1

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India, America join hands to harness solar power
Srinivas Laxman, TNN, Nov 8, 2010, 02.22am IST
MUMBAI: India and USA teamed up on a space-based energy initiative aimed at turning both countries into net energy exporters, 48 hours before US President Barack Obama landed in India.

The project is led by former president of India A P J Abdul Kalam, who was once a staunch critic of the US, and National Space Society (NSS), a non-profit US-based space organization with chapters all over the world including India. The initiative was announced on Thursday at Washington's National Press Club where Kalam and Isro Satellite Centre director T K Alex were present. Known as the Kalam-National Space Society initiative, the mission envisages harvesting solar power in space for use on earth.

Alex is the project's principal investigator from India. Kalam told the US media that a team from Isro has been formed to carry out a feasibility study for this project. He said Isro chairman K Radhakrishnan asked him to take the idea forward after a discussing the project. Referring to the Manmohan Singh-Obama summit in New Delhi on Sunday, Kalam said both were concerned leaders ''interested in energy-related issues and energy independence''. Kalam said it was a 15-year-project. The main challenge is to evolve methods to transmit solar power from space to earth and its distribution. To make it economical, the cost of launching a spacecraft, currently $20,000 a kg, has to be slashed to $2,000 a kg.

Read more: India, America join hands to harness solar power - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/6886049.cms?prtpage=1#ixzz14emtVo63

From: http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=1163

NSS-Kalam Energy Initiative To Harvest Solar Power From Space

by Energy Matters

America and India, two nations trying to wean themselves off an unhealthy reliance on fossil fuels, have agreed to work towards a joint space program that would establish solar energy harvesting satellites in orbit around the Earth.
    
As US President Barack Obama visits India, his former counterpart Dr A.P.J. Kalam, eleventh president of India last week addressed the National Press Club along with the National Space Society (NSS) on the subject of space solar power.
    
Dr Kalam is in partnership with Dr. T.K. Alex, Director of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) Satellite Centre and leader of the Chandrayan-1 project that discovered water on the moon. The project is called the Kalam-NSS Initiative.
   
Although the logistics involved in the production and transfer of space solar power are literally out of this world, Dr Kalam says humanity will have no choice because Earth-bound renewable energy sources will not be able to cope with demand.
   
"By 2050, even if we use every available energy resource we have: clean and dirty, conventional and alternative, solar, wind, geothermal, nuclear, coal, oil, and gas, the world will fall short of the energy we need."
  
Kalam believes that utilising off-world solar power has the potential to reverse America’s half a trillion dollar a year balance of payments deficit and to generate a new generation of American jobs. It is, he argues, simply expanding on existing technology that has been in use for decades by both India and America to power satellites sent into space. 
  
Telstar, America’s first commercial satellite, was essentially a "beachball encrusted with square medallions. Those medallions were photovoltaic panels.



From: http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/jsp_includes/articlePrint.jsp?storyID=news/asd/2010/11/05/04.xml&headLine=Indian,%20U.S.%20Experts%20Team%20On%20Space%20Solar%20Power


Indian, U.S. Experts Team On Space Solar Power
By Frank Morring, Jr.


Former Indian President A.P.J. Kalam has lent his name to a new cooperative effort by experts in the U.S. and India to advance space solar power (SSP) as a way to improve life on Earth.


Kalam, 79, is a space pioneer who served as the 11th president of India. He and his former associates at the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) have teamed with the Washington-based National Space Society (NSS) for an initiative aimed at accomplishing the work necessary to field a system of large satellites that would collect solar energy and beam it safely to Earth’s surface.


“A large mission like space solar power will need the combined efforts of many nations,” Kalam said Nov. 4 in a conference call from India. “I am certain that harvesting solar power in space can upgrade the living standard of the human race.”


U.S. Allies


Kalam was joined on the line by John Mankins, a former exploration chief technologist at NASA who is president of the Space Power Association, and T.K. Alex, director of the ISRO’s Satellite Center in Bengaluru. Alex, who led development of the Chandrayaan-1 lunar orbiter, will join Mankins as co-principal investigators on the Kalam-National Space Society Energy Initiative.


The group plans a bilateral meeting in Huntsville, Ala., next May to establish a course of action and organizational structure.


While NSS CEO Mark Hopkins says that meeting will be organized around Indian and U.S. participants, plans call for broadening the effort to include other nations — notably Japan, which has done advanced work in space solar power.


Kalam says the topic may be included during President Barack Obama’s upcoming summit with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, but a more likely route to the top levels of spacefaring nations will come in presentations at future G-8 and G-20 economic summits.


Ideally, different nations will contribute SSP components based on their particular skills, he says.


For India and the U.S., cooperation in technology development also can work, he adds.


Indian infrastructure


Alex says India already has a significant terrestrial solar power industry based in the country’s north. The nation also is working in multi-junction solar arrays which, while not as advanced as similar technology in the U.S., could lead to the solar-power conversion efficiency needed to make SSP practical. Similarly, Kalam cited India’s work in reusable launch vehicle technology as a way to hold down the cost of getting SSP payloads to orbit, and said that work could go faster if the U.S. and India collaborate.


Mankins cited a “10-10-10” rule for a first prototype in geostationary orbit that could be a goal for the new bilateral initiative.


Such a system would deliver 10 megawatts of power, cost less than $10 billion to build and launch, and be ready in less than 10 years. The system would consist of a large satellite to collect the Sun’s energy and convert it into microwaves, which would be beamed to an antenna on Earth that would collect the microwaves for conversion to electricity and transmission through the existing power grid.


The antenna would be as open as chicken wire, Hopkins says, which would permit farmers to grow crops under it. And the beam would be so diffuse that “you can walk through the beam, even if you’re naked, and it’s not going to hurt you.”

A.P.J. Kalam photo: India government



From: http://www.spacepolitics.com/2010/11/07/us-and-india-in-space-and-space-solar-power/
US and India in space (and space solar power?)
November 7, 2010 at 9:52 am · Filed under Other


President Obama is currently in India, where he is expected to formally announce on Monday the removal of the Indian space agency ISRO from a US list that restricts exports of some sensitive technologies. The Entity List, as it is formally known, specifies additional requirements for items beyond what’s already required under export control regulations. Currently ISRO and four organizations within it are on the list, requiring a “case-by-case review” for any item on the Commerce Control List for export to those organizations. That restriction dates back to sanctions placed on India and Pakistan for their nuclear tests in the late 1990s.


That move isn’t unexpected: it had been anticipated for weeks in both the US and India. In a Wall Street Journal op-ed on Thursday, former deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage, writing with another former State Department official, R. Nicholas Burns, called on both the White House and Congress to “liberalize U.S. export controls that have an impact on India, including by removing the Indian Space Research Organization (the Indian equivalent to NASA) from the U.S. ‘Entity List.’” However, that appears to be the limit of space-related progress in the president’s visit: Indian media reported last week that it’s unlikely a commercial satellite launch agreement will be completed in time. Such an agreement would make it easier for US-built commercial satellites, or satellites with US-built components, to be launched on Indian vehicles.


A few people, though, are seeking much grander visions of US-Indian cooperation in space. At a press conference in Washington on Thursday, American and Indian officials announced the creation of Kalam-NSS Energy Initiative to promote the development of space-based solar power (SBSP) in the two nations. The near-term goal of the initiative is to arrange a bilateral meeting of Indian and American experts on the topic in May in Huntsville, Alabama, in conjunction with the International Space Development Conference (ISDC), the annual conference of the National Space Society (NSS).


The effort might be dismissed as a minor effort of a few people to promote what’s widely considered a fringe topic, but it does have the backing of a prominent individual on the Indian side: former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, who participated in Thursday’s press conference by phone from India. Kalam spoke of the need to increase energy production to meet the needs of a modernizing India, without going into details about how the two countries might cooperation in SBSP beyond holding a joint meeting. Asked if the topic might come up in the meeting between President Obama and Indian Prime Minister Singh in New Delhi, Kalam suggested that it should instead be presented at a future meeting of G8 or G20 nations.


Also unclear is what India would bring to the table in terms of its role in developing a SBSP system. Asked what unique capabilities India could offer, Kalam discussed the development of what he called a “hyperplane”, a reusable spaceplane concept, something he said India could cooperate with the US and other nations on. (Given the difficulties any nation has had in developing RLVs, and the challenges India has faced in even building a cryogenic upper stage for its GSLV expendable rocket, jumping ahead to a “hyperplane” may seem a bit of a stretch.) T.K. Alex, director of the ISRO Satellite Centre and the Indian lead of the Kalam-NSS Energy Initiative, said later at the press conference that India could also contribute in the development of high-efficiency and lightweight solar cells. NSS CEO Mark Hopkins suggested a different role for India, saying that “a combination of American technology and the ability of India to do a lot of low-cost manufacturing” could be essential to any future success of SBSP.


From: http://news.rediff.com/report/2010/nov/02/kalam-nss-initiative-to-tap-solar-power-in-space.htm
'Kalam-NSS' initiative to tap solar power in space
November 02, 2010 08:02 IST
Tags: National Space Society, Indian Space Research Organisation, Mark Hopkins, Kalam, NASA
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Former Indian President A P J Abdul Kalam [ Images ] and US' prestigious National Space Society are all set to announce their ambitious joint initiative to tap solar power in space, when President Barack Obama [ Images ] visits the country this weekend.




"The 'Kalam-NSS' Energy Initiative is a transformative idea that can up shift the US and Indian economies by meeting the urgent global need for a scalable, carbon-neutral, green, 24-hr renewable power source," CEO of National Space Society (NSS) Mark Hopkins said.


It is a game-changing technology that addresses energy security, sustainable development, climate change, and multinational cooperation, Hopkins said.


Obama and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh [ Images ] are expected to discuss joint research and development on energy issues during the former's maiden visit to the country.


"I am convinced that harvesting solar power in space can bring India [ Images ] and United States of America together in whole new ways.


"And I am certain that harvesting solar power in space can upgrade the living standard of the human race," Kalam said.


Dr T K Alex, Director of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and John Mankins, a 25-year NASA [ Images ] veteran, are believed to provide the details via electronic feed.


The popular former Indian president would also address a press conference at NSS via phone on November 4.


The next step in the Kalam-NSS Energy Initiative will be a NSS joint Indo-American conference on space solar power at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville, Alabama, on May 18-22 next year.


Space solar power has the potential to reverse America's half-a-trillion dollar balance of payments a year deficit and to generate a new generation of American jobs, a media release said, adding that it is a source whose basic technology is already here.


US has been harvesting solar power in space and transmitting it to earth since 1962, when 'Telstar', the first commercial satellite, went up in orbit.


Similarly India has been looking to tap solar energy in space since 1975, when its first satellite, 'Aryabhatta A', was introduced,


World electricity demand by the year 2035 is projected to increase by 87 per cent.


"By 2050, even if we use every available energy resource we have: clean and dirty, conventional and alternative, solar, wind, geothermal, nuclear, coal, oil, and gas, the world will fall short of the energy we need," Kalam said.


There is an answer… an energy source that produces no carbon emissions, an energy source that can reach to most distant villages of the world, and an energy source that can turn both countries into net energy and technology exporters, the former president added.

From: http://www.thinkindia.net.in/2010/11/india-and-the-us-to-harvest-solar-power-in-space-.html

India and the U.S. to "Harvest Solar Power in Space"
India and the U.S. have agreed to team up on a space-based energy initiative, reports The Times of India.

This comes as U.S. President Barack Obama is on an official trip to India, aimed at opening up the Indian market for U.S. business.

The Times of India says the project looks to turn both countries into net energy exporters. Named the Kalam-National Space Society initiative, it proposes to harvest solar power in space, for use on earth. Read More

Source: Third Age

From: http://www.next100.com/2010/10/partners-in-space.php

OCT 26 2010

PARTNERS IN SPACE?
Posted by: Jonathan Marshall
When President Obama visits India in a couple of weeks to help cement the two countries’ strategic and economic relationship, he should make room on the agenda for a visionary plan to create a joint space-based solar energy program.

That’s the provocative recommendation of a recent report drafted by a U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel, and published by the Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses, a think tank based in New Delhi and funded by India’s defense ministry.

As readers of NEXT100 know, space-based solar energy is an unproven but nearly unlimited source of clean, renewable energy. Photovoltaic panels in orbit around the Earth would capture intense solar energy around the clock—with no down time for clouds or night—and then beam it down to an earth receiving station in the form of microwaves. The energy would then be converted into electrical current suitable for the power grid.

India has a strong interest in space solar power, thanks to its active space program and limited available land for terrestrial solar. The country’s former president, A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, told a group of space experts in Boston three years ago that India is developing an inexpensive reusable launch vehicle that could give "mankind the benefit of space solar-power stations in geostationary and other orbits.”

The new think-tank report maintains that a joint program aimed at establishing a commercially viable space solar industry by 2025 could be “the next major step in the Indo-US strategic partnership.” It would help “solve the linked problems of energy security, development and climate change” while giving India a constructive and peaceful direction for its rising space program.

If successful, the partnership would “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 adds.

“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 two countries are longstanding partners when it comes to space science. The United States helped India launch its first generation of satellites in the 1970s, and India returned the favor by carrying NASA’s Moon Minerology Mapper aboard a moon-orbiting satellite last year.

A key stumbling block—aside from the Obama administration’s apparent disinterest in space solar—is India’s continuing refusal to sign the Missile Technology Control Regime, which seeks to curb the proliferation of missile technology. Unless it signs, the United States can’t share rocket technology with India.



See the press conference here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=al4X8O0k0pQ

AN ALERT TO A SIGNIFICANT EVENT OF VITAL INTEREST TO INDIA-US RELATIONS

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Ram Narayanan 
Date: Mon, Nov 1, 2010 at 10:55 AM
Subject: AN ALERT TO A SIGNIFICANT EVENT OF VITAL INTEREST TO INDIA-US RELATIONS
To:

Dear Friends:

On October 10, 2010, I had sent you a message titled, "A POSSIBLE BIG TICKET ITEM FOR THE OBAMA VISIT."

It had focused on a landmark 160-page paper on "Sky’s no limit: Space-based Solar Power, the next major step in the Indo-US Strategic Partnership," published by India’s Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA).

According to the Washington-based National Space Society, the paper was sponsored by the US-based Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), and represents 16 months of in-country research by a member of the National Space Society, Peter Garretson, to examine the possibilities of Indo-US cooperation in space and renewable energy.

The paper "examines the relevance of Space-Based Solar Power, a highly scalable, revolutionary, renewable energy technology in 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 context and long-term energy-climate trajectories. The paper examines multiple models of potential cooperation, and ultimately 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 program to realize its potential."

Gary Barnhard, Executive Director of the National Space Society, said, "This is a serious effort to articulate an agenda for Indo-US strategic partnership in space cooperation, clean energy, and climate change. This is a truly ambitious proposal that could top the Indo-US ’123’ civil nuclear deal in scope and significance. It’s timing right before President Obama’s visit could not be better, and we hope those developing his agenda are paying attention. Our hat is off to IDSA and CFR for sponsoring such visionary work in the policy realm that is likely to advance the interests of the United States, India, and the world. We are taking its recommendations very seriously in formulating our own initiative."
This is to alert you to a major press conference scheduled for, Thursday, November 4, 2010 hosted by the National Space Society (NSS) at the National Press Club to reveal one of the first initiatives ever undertaken by a non-profit American organization and a former head of state. That initiative pairs India’s eleventh President, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam with America’s National Space Society. Its name? The Kalam-NSS Energy Initiative.

The press conference will be held at the National Press Club, 529 14th St. NW, 13th Floor, Bloomberg Room in Washington DC. It will begin at 9:30 AM and conclude by 11:00 AM.

Free continental breakfast will be available.

A quote that Dr. Kalam, former President of India, wrote for the press conference is given below. Dr. T. K. Alex and John Mankins will be participating in the press conference via speaker phone from India and California respectively. They will both be making statements and answering questions. It has just been announced that Dr Abdul Kalam will also be present by phone.

Dr. T. K. Alex is the Director of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) Satellite Centre, Bangalore. The most important project that was led by him was Chandrayaan-1, the first Indian mission to the Moon, which resulted in the famous discovery of water on Moon’s surface. Now he is guiding and directing the development of Chandrayaan-2 and sixteen new Indian satellites.

John Mankins is the world’s leading expert on Space Solar Power (SPS). He was in charge of the last major study of SPS by America’s National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
I am told all are welcome to the press conference. If you live in or near Washington DC, you may be interested to join in at this important press conference. Please also forward this message to your friends and relatives who live in the area.

If you have any questions, please contact Gary Barnhard at 202-420-1600 or gary.barnhard@nss.org 
Additional details are furnished below along with the quote Dr Kalam wrote for the press conference.
Cheers,

Ram Narayanan
US-India Friendship http://www.usindiafriendship.net/ 


The Kalam-NSS Energy Initiative 
The Kalam-NSS Energy Initiative’s goals? To solve the global energy crisis. To solve the global carbon crisis. And to solve America’s next generation jobs crisis. How? By harvesting solar power in space.

Mark Hopkins, the CEO of the National Space Society, says, "The Kalam-NSS initiative is a transformative idea that can upshift the US and Indian economies by meeting the urgent global need for a scalable, carbon-neutral, green, 24-hr renewable power source. It is a game-changing technology that addresses energy security, sustainable development, climate change, and multinational cooperation."

Energy and India are hot topics. President Barack Obama is meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh November 7th and 8th. The two are committed to joint research and development on energy issues. The National Space Society and former Indian President Dr. Kalam believe that Obama and Prime Minister Singh should adopt space solar power as one long-term answer to their nations’ needs. To that end, the next step in the Kalam-NSS Energy Initiative will be a National Space Society joint Indian-American conference on space solar power at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville, Alabama, May 18-22.

Space solar power has the potential to reverse America’s half a trillion dollar a year balance of payments deficit and to generate a new generation of American jobs. Why? Space solar power is a source whose basic technology is already here. The United States has been harvesting solar power in space and transmitting it to Earth since 1962, when Telstar, the first commercial satellite, went up. That satellite, Telstar, looked like a beach ball encrusted with square medallions. The medallions were photovoltaic panels. And India has been harvesting solar energy in space since 1975, when its first satellite, Aryabhata A, went into orbit. Every square centimeter of Aryabhata’s exterior was tiled with solar panels. Today harvesting energy in space and transmitting it to Earth is a quarter of a trillion dollar industry…the commercial satellite business. You use solar energy harvested in space when you watch soccer games from other continents, when you tune into satellite TV or satellite radio, when you use the Global Positioning System (GPS), when you consult the pictures in Google Earth, and when you use your cell phone.
Concludes Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, "I am convinced that harvesting solar power in space can bring India and United States of America together in whole new ways. And I am certain that harvesting solar power in space can upgrade the living standard of the human race." 

The NSS Press Conference Announcement
The Kalam-NSS International Preliminary
Feasibility Study on Space Based Solar
Power Stations 
Our Vision for this unique initiative, now emerging from India and the United States, the largest and oldest democracies in the world, is for all nations of the world working together to enhance the quality of human life, inspire the spirit of space exploration, expand the horizons of knowledge, and ensure space security for all nations of the world. I am of the view that the present capabilities of major space faring nations are not optimally utilized. The launch vehicles of the world, the spacecraft of the world, the application potential of the world, the space scientific research potential of the world and above all the huge costs envisaged for long term space programmes would call for a "paradigm shift" in nations to work together to bring the benefits of space to humanity as a whole. This is possible, as my experience suggests, only if we have strong cooperation of each nation contributing substantially in technology and resources.

The constraints on growth of electric power capacity like land availability, water and fuel supply chains (for coal as well as nuclear power) and silting of dams etc, are among the major factors that have, so far, limited power capacity growth world-wide, and India with its large population is among those significantly concerned. I have been discussing with leaders, professionals and common citizens in India and various parts of the world on this serious issue of energy. When I was recently in USA, whether it was in Arkansas, Houston, Kentucky or Washington DC, it was apparent that energy independence is a key focus. Both developed countries and developing countries, while trying to overcome deficits in energy, are also discussing at public policy and implementation levels, as to how to intensify research and development on renewable energy systems. This is not only from the point of view of energy availability but also from the view point of a sustainable environment.

In India, the need for space based solar power stations was identified as far back as 1993. Since then, indeed earlier from 1987, work has been carried out in India on advanced space transportation system design concepts for affordable space solar power. ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) have recently carried out some preliminary concept studies on Space Solar Power and examined three SSP configurations. ISRO has also welcomed an International Preliminary Feasibility Study.

In the USA, by 1995, NASA took a “Fresh Look” at Space Solar power, in the light of several advances made in systems architectures, solar cell weight and efficiency, light weight array structures. They concluded that the technology state-of-art was adequate to establish cost-effective SSP systems.

By 2050, even if we use every available energy resource we have, clean and dirty, conventional and alternative, solar, wind, geothermal, nuclear, coal, oil, and gas, the world will fall short of the energy we need by 66%. There is an answer. An answer for both the developed and developing countries. That is a solar energy source that is close to infinite, an energy source that produces no carbon emissions, an energy source that can reach the most distant villages of the world, and an energy source that can turn countries into net energy exporters.

I am convinced that harvesting solar power in space can bring India and United States of America together in whole new ways. And I am certain that harvesting solar power in space can upgrade the living standard of the human race. Hence, the Kalam-NSS Energy Initiative, to benefit the world community.
27th October, 2010
A P J Abdul Kalam
New Delhi
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