According to reports, the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in association with Northrop Grumman, is designing sophisticated orbital technology that would allow the collection of huge amounts of solar energy into space before transmitting it in concentrated form to the USA UU. Remote bases during military operations.
The joint AFRL-Northrop Grumman project, so far worth more than $ 100 million in research cash, is called a space solar energy incremental demonstration and research project (SSPIDR), The Stars & Stripes media reported.
“Energy is a strategic facilitator and a potential vulnerability for our nation and our Department of Defense … To ensure the success of the DOD mission, we must have the energy we need in the right place at the right time,” Colonel Eric Felt, director of said the Direction of Space Vehicles of AFRL, cited by Stars & Stripes.
According to the project’s demonstration manager, Major Tim Allen, cited by the media, specialists are designing an elaborate system consisting of a constellation of satellites with solar panels consisting of about 10,000 square meters, almost the size of two football fields.
“This whole project is being built towards the transmission of wireless energy … The beams are directed electronically so that we can place them in specific locations and keep them there without having to turn a wide variety,” said Allen, quoted by the media.
The developers said the project would not be used solely for military purposes.
“This technology was first examined in the 1960s or so, and it was not profitable, so […] we are now on the road to building some experiments to find out if it is profitable.”
“If we discover that this is the case and we begin to produce this operational capacity, I believe that the commercial industry will be happy to imitate what we are doing and begin to provide this power commercially and not just for the military,” said Allen, quoted by Stars & Stripes.
According to the developers of SSPIDR, the technology would provide solar energy through the weather, regardless of latitude and day and night.
Source: Newsfront
