3 ms·

The applications for this are well beyond Earth. Additionally there was a lot more useful testing of various related aspects in this beyond just beaming power

• hutzlibu 3y ago
  Oh the technology per se is definitely something amazing, that warrants more research. I was just referring to this question of the thread, of can this be a useful energy source for the earth in the near future? And I think no. Rather fusion, even though that will likely take some more decades at least. But a breakthrough with fusion seems possible, but I cannot think of a breakthrough with space beams, that can ignore the atmosphere, or gravity (the main constraints).
  • practicemaths 3y ago
    Fair enough. Near future, I agree it's hard to imagine available resources for this outpacing available resources for fusion. Though fusion does have some more difficult technical engineering issues than SBS. By that I mean, as far I know, we have a decent understanding of what materials we would need and how to utilize said material for space based solar. While with fusion we are close to self sustainings reactions, we still lack understanding on containing the reaction itself for it to be feasible. That is, understanding the magnetic fluctuations around the plasma reaction and having material to housing it for extended periods of time. Of course with computing simulations becoming increasingly more accurate and powerful, those technical hurdles may not be as stringent as we see them today.