Startup aims to overcome a major solar energy problem with space-based power

Jack Aylmer

ONE OF THE BIGGEST PROBLEMS WITH SOLAR ENERGY IS THE SUN ISN’T ALWAYS SHINING ON EARTH.

BUT IN SPACE, THIS TYPE OF POWER CAN BE ALMOST CONSTANTLY COLLECTED.

IT’S WHY THE IDEA OF SPACE SOLAR HAS BEEN DISCUSSED FOR OVER A CENTURY NOW.

MUCH OF THOSE DISCUSSIONS HAVE GONE NOWHERE BECAUSE OF TECHNOLOGICAL HURDLES AND HIGH COSTS THAT PREVENT THE CONCEPT FROM BEING IMPLEMENTED ON A COMMERCIAL SCALE.

NASA PREDICTS THAT SPACE WON’T BE A VIABLE SOURCE OF SOLAR POWER UNTIL 20-50-

AND EVEN THEN IT COULD BE AS MUCH AS 80 TIMES MORE EXPENSIVE THAN TERRESTRIAL RENEWABLES.

BUT, A NEW STARTUP AND ITS BILLIONAIRE FOUNDER ARE LOOKING TO CHANGE THAT NARRATIVE.

“We view this as or primarily, an engineering and economics problem, not a hard science problem … How can we take technologies that exist today, where even other industries are maturing them, and use those technologies to create something that can happen today?”

BAIJU BHATT MADE HIS FORTUNE AS THE CEO OF THE FINANCIAL SERVICES COMPANY ROBINHOOD-

NOW HE PLANS TO FUND HIS NEW SPACE SOLAR COMPANY AETHERFLUX WITH HIS OWN PERSONAL WEALTH.

“The basic concept is you collect solar power and orbit, and by doing so, you’re able to beam it down to locations virtually globally. And by doing so, address a lot of the limitations of renewable energy and the intermittency.”

UNLIKE OTHER APPROACHES TO SPACE SOLAR-

WHICH INVOLVE LARGE, HIGHLY-EXPENSIVE SPACECRAFT-

AETHERFLUX PLANS TO INSTEAD SEND UP A CONSTELLATION OF SMALLER SATELLITES TO DO THE JOB – SIMILAR TO WHAT SPACE-X IS DOING WITH STARLINK INTERNET.

“The way that we’re going to be transferring power from space to Earth is actually using a constellation of satellites in low Earth orbit, and each one collects power and then uses infrared lasers to find a ground station and actually transmit power down to it.”

THE COMPANY’S FIRST LONG-TERM GOAL IS TO LAUNCH ENOUGH SATELLITES INTO ORBIT TO POWER A SMALL NEIGHBORHOOD.

AETHERFLUX AIMS TO GET ITS FIRST DEMONSTRATION SPACECRAFT UP IN ORBIT BY EITHER LATE 20-25 OR EARLY 20-26.

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