When I've briefly looked into this, the receiver stations on the ground are massive in a way that I thought was unavoidable. Is that what you mean when you say

When I've briefly looked into this, the receiver stations on the ground are massive in a way that I thought was unavoidable. Is that what you mean when you say real estate? That it's not a lot of area on the ground? Or that the space based part is small relative to the sky? edit: the article makes no mention of this part. The UK proposal mentions that the ground antenna is the size of what was the largest offshore wind farm until 2018: https://spaceenergyinitiative.org.uk/space-based-solar-power/ https://spaceenergyinitiative.org.uk/space-based-solar-power... The cheaper that solar and wind and batteries get I think the worse this looks. Maybe for near the poles? Seems like it'll always be comparitvely expensive and niche.