Press picks up NSS-Kalam Initiative

Now the President Obama has left, and provided an impressive speech to parliament  and the two countries produced an affirming Joint Statement:

The Obama administration is definitely on the right track with India, going all the right vectors on Space, Defense, Climate Change, Nuclear and Renewable energy, and it is unfortunate the administration was not bold enough to tie it all together and include the truly visionary concept of Space-Based Solar Power.  Perhaps some smart individual will put it on the 2011 Civil Space Joint Working Group.

The news of the Kalam-NSS initiative is getting out, appearing online in a number of important places:

The Wall Street Journal: http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2010/11/08/india-digest-india-america-join-hands-to-harness-solar-power/
Times of India: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/India-America-join-hands-to-harness-solar-power/articleshow/6886049.cms
MSNBC: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40092675/
Yahoo News: http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20101109/sc_space/undernewplansatellitestobeamsolarpowerdownfromspace
Kurzweil AI: http://www.kurzweilai.net/former-president-of-india-wants-to-beam-energy-from-space
Aviation Week: http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story.jsp?id=news/asd/2010/11/05/04.xml&channel=space
NASA Watch/SpaceRef: http://www.spaceref.com/calendar/calendar.html?pid=6202
Parabolic Arc: http://www.parabolicarc.com/2010/11/04/kalamnss-initiative-aimed-producing-cheap-clean-power-space/
Deccan Herald: http://www.deccanherald.com/content/109675/kalam-nss-initiative-tap-solar.html
Renewable Power News: http://www.renewablepowernews.com/archives/1945
The Space Review: http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1721/1
Space Politics: http://www.spacepolitics.com/2010/11/07/us-and-india-in-space-and-space-solar-power/
Ecopoliticology: http://ecopolitology.org/2010/11/10/us-india-launch-space-based-solar-energy-initiative/
Energy Matters: http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=1163
Third Age: http://www.thirdage.com/news/india-and-us-harvest-solar-power-space_11-7-2010
The Center for New American Security: http://www.cnas.org/blogs/naturalsecurity/2010/11/us-india-cooperation-space-next-frontier.html

An important commentary comes from one of India's space experts, Ajey Lele at IDSA:

From: http://www.idsa.in/idsacomments/KalamNSSIndianAmericanEnergyInitiative_alele_091110
Kalam-NSS Indian-American Energy Initiative
Ajey Lele

November 9, 2010
During his maiden visit to India, President Barack Obama has cleared the air on the issue of ‘outsourcing of jobs to Indians’. He also announced that various deals with India worth US$ 10 billion are likely to generate about 50,000 jobs in the US in the coming few years, giving indications that India is actually not a job snatcher but a job creator! While the tempo of the Obama visit has been raised in India by highlighting various aspects of Indo-US relations, one silent revolution which is expected to generate many jobs in both countries has almost gone unnoticed. On 4 November 2010, in a press conference at Washington D.C., details of the ‘Kalam-NSS Indian-American Energy Initiative’ – a joint US-Indian endeavour intended to build clean space-based solar power satellites – were announced.

Interestingly, this unique initiative is not an initiative between the two countries, nor it is a commercial venture. It also does not follow a public-private partnership model. It is a plan formulated by a former head of state and a US-based non-profit organization – India's former President Dr. A.P.J. Kalam and the US National Space Society (NSS). This initiative is important not only because it is expected to offer alternative energy solutions, but the technology promises a cheap and clean energy source. Particularly, with Mr. Obama announcing the end of the technology denial regime against Indian entities such as DRDO and ISRO, it is expected that this endeavour would progress without any ‘administrative’ glitches.

The Kalam-NSS Indian-American Energy Initiative is being conceptualized by individuals with vast experience in the field of space technologies as well as policy planning. Dr. Kalam is a rocket scientist of repute and has vast experience in developing various major projects for the Indian state. The co-principal investor from the United States, Mr. John Mankins, is president of the Space Power Association and a former exploration chief technologist at NASA. In this project there is no direct involvement of NASA. However, there is some support visible from the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). The co-principal investigator is Mr. T.K. Alex who is currently the Director of ISRO’s Satellite Centre and was the leader of India’s first moon mission, the Chandrayan-1.

According to Dr. Kalam it could take around 15 years for the completion of this project. India with its proven expertise in launching satellites could help to bring down the cost of satellites. It may be premature to talk with certitude about the cost effectiveness of this project. However, the group is convinced that space solar power would be affordable in the long run. It has been claimed that the cost of energy could be 10 cents per kilowatt hour (approximately Rs. 4.30). Electricity generated from coal, believed to be the cheapest form of energy, costs around Rs 3.30 per kilowatt hour.

Global electricity demand is expected to increase by 87 per cent around 2035. It is believed that by 2050 the world may not be able to fulfil overall energy requirements in spite of using every available energy resource. Proponents of this technology and the initiative like Mr. Mark Hopkins, the CEO of the National Space Society, view this as a “game-changing technology that addresses energy security, sustainable development, climate change, and multinational cooperation.” The concept of Space Based Solar Power (SBSP) or Space Solar Power (SSP) is a four decade old concept. Since the early 1970s scientists have been working on this concept with varying degrees of success. Lack of finding and political will is the main reason for inadequate development of this technology, which involves the collection of solar power from space and its use on earth. For this purpose the energy would be trapped in space with the help of satellites and would be subsequently transferred to earth. Catching energy in space is important to reduce the losses suffered in the process of its transfer to earth. For this purpose the space system converts sunlight to microwaves outside the earth’s atmosphere.

To decide the basic roadmap for this work, on May 18-22, 2011 a bilateral conference is scheduled to be held at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville, Alabama where top scientists from both countries are expected to debate this issue in detail. It is expected that the first phase of this initiative could last for one year during which a preliminary pre-feasibility study would be carried out. The second phase which could last for more than half a decade would involve a range of targeted technology and engineering demonstrations on ground. The penultimate state is expected to deliver the pilot project and the last stage involves completion and implementation of the actual project where the common man as well industry start using the SSP. The details of this project are available at the web link http://www.nss.org/settlement/ssp/library/KALAM-NSS-Initiative.pdf.

Countries like Japan have already taken a lead in this field. They have identified both near term and long term objectives for developing the SSP Programme. It is expected that they may succeeded in developing an operational system within the next five or more years. It is important for the US and India to engage Japan in this field.

But developing mega projects like the SSP are mostly viewed with mistrust by many. It is felt that successful completion of such ‘ostentatious’ ideas is not possible and more importantly such projects are huge money-spinners. In the past various inventions/ideas have been held back because of lack of public and political support. However, the energy needs of 21st century demand scrutiny of every possible option and space based solar power offers one such.

See also discussion here at Defence Forum of India:
http://www.defenceforum.in/forum/showthread.php?t=14397&page=1

Now Obama was expected to
http://www.energy-daily.com/reports/Obama_to_launch_clean_energy_initiative_in_India_999.html
The United States and India will announce during Obama's trip the creation of a center for joint cooperation on developing clean energy, including solar power and biofuels, according to two people familiar with the plan.



Excerpts from: http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1721/1


Mankins said the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) is completing a study on SBSP, due out next spring. That study is looking at three SBSP concepts with the idea of not transmitting power to a single fixed point on the Earth, as was planned in the original 1970s concepts, but instead be able to transmit to any number of locations “in order to satisfy optimum market conditions.”


The finding of the study group—still undergoing peer review, Mankins said—is that with a new technology roadmap a pilot SBSP system could be relatively affordable. “Within 10 to 15 years, a pilot plant, delivering megawatts of power, could in fact be realizable within a finite amount of budget,” he said, with “finite” meaning $5–10 billion. “It’s not trivial—it’s a big effort—but it’s not an impossible amount of money.”


“A James Webb Space Telescope-class investment by the international community, both industry and space agencies, could in fact realize a subscale but operationally scalable multi-megawatt solar power satellite demo within 7 to 15 years,” he concluded.
For far less it may be possible to demonstrate one of the key technologies of SBSP, transmitting power from space to the Earth. Asked how much it would cost to fly a satellite that could beam a token amount of power—enough to perhaps power a single light bulb—Mankins said that a “quick and dirty demo” using off-the-shelf technology could cost $1–10 million. A more robust demonstration using technologies on the path towards larger SBSP systems would cost somewhat more: $20–50 million.
However, just as technologies have advanced during the last three decades, so have the capabilities—and energy needs—of other nations, opening up opportunities for cooperation not envisioned three decades ago.


One example formally announced at a Washington, DC, press conference on Thursday by the National Space Society is the Kalam-NSS Energy Initiative. The project is a joint venture that plans to bring together American and Indian experts to discuss technologies associated with SBSP at a bilateral meeting planned for next May in Huntsville, Alabama, in conjunction with the International Space Development Conference, the annual conference of the NSS.


What gives this effort added prominence is one of the Indian supporters of the effort: Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, the former president of India. Kalam worked on missile and space programs in India before becoming president in 2002, earning the nickname “Missile Man of India”. He promoted India’s space efforts during his five-year tenure as president and is now lending his name and interest to this new effort.


“I have been proposing that large missions, like bringing space solar power to the Earth, would need the combined efforts of nations,” Kalam said, speaking by phone from India. His interest in SBSP, he said, came from a need to meet India’s growing energy requirements while moving away from fossil fuels. “We need to graduate from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources.”


While the idea of cooperation between the two countries on space solar power has been brought up in the past (see “Should India and the US cooperate on space solar power?”, The Space Review, June 8, 2009), the concept was discussed in detail more recently in an August 2010 white paper by Peter Garretson, an Air Force lieutenant colonel who had a fellowship at India’s Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses. In the paper, he outlined the concept of solar power from space and how it might serve to advance the strategic partnership between the United States and India.


In the paper, Garretson calls for a three-stage joint effort for development of an SBSP system, after an initial (“stage 0”) creation of a bilateral framework: a technology development study, development of a demonstration system, and then full-fledged production. While the final stage would cost tens of billions of dollars, Garretson wrote that the technology study stage could be done for only $10–30 million over about five years.


Why should the two countries cooperate on SBSP, though? At Thursday’s press conference, NSS CEO Mark Hopkins noted that the two countries have “so much in common”, ranging from a shared colonial history to strong public interest in space. Both also have growing energy requirements, especially in India as that populous nation modernizes, and SBSP could meet those needs and more. “India and the United States can become major net exporters of energy,” he said.

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
_____________________

US-India Friendship Net identifies Space-Based Solar Power as a Big Idea

From: Ram Narayanan <ramn_wins@roadrunner.com>
Subject: A POSSIBLE BIG TICKET ITEM FOR THE OBAMA VISIT
To: Undisclosed-Recipient@yahoo.com
Date: Sunday, 10 October, 2010, 7:04 AM

Dear Friends:

A keen observer of US-India relations writes:
"Based on several conversations in the last two weeks in Washington, it’s obvious that teams of dedicated government officials are working very, very hard in advance of President Obama’s trip to India to make it a success. Much effort is being expended to break down interagency barriers on previously trenchant issues. One expects positive developments could be seen in areas such as export control and the Entities List."  "As the search for big ideas continues, one of the focus areas for the future of security dialog is likely going to be security of the ’Global Commons’. India and the US can and must work together as large democracies to set norms for behavior in the Commons." 

"In the context of ’big ideas’, IDSA recently released a paper by USAF Lt. Col. Peter Garretson, who was visiting on a Council on Foreign Relations fellowship. The paper suggests solar satellites as a joint project between the US and India as a possible vehicle to take the partnership to the next level. "

"This is the type of big idea that both bureaucracies and political decision-makers could get their arms around as being ’unique’. In the initial phases, the study of the applicability of such technology to Indian and American needs, as well as its export potential, would not be prohibitive and on the Indian side could interest entities like BHEL and ISRO."

Peter A. Garretson was a Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) International Fellow in India, and a Visiting Fellow at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) New Delhi. He is an active duty Air Force officer on sabbatical as an Air Force Fellow. He was previously the Chief of Future Science and Technology Exploration for Headquarters Air Force, Directorate of Strategic Plans and Programs, and is a former DARPA Service Chiefs’ Intern, and former Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) Service Academy Research Associate. He is a published author on Space Grand Strategy, and is a recipient of the National Space Society’s (NSS) Space Pioneer Award.

His paper is titled,

"Sky’s no limit: Space-based Solar Power, the next
major step in the Indo-US Strategic Partnership".

The paper "provides a policymaker’s overview of a highly scalable, revolutionary, renewable energy technology, Space-Based Solar Power (SBSP), and evaluates its utility within 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 energy-climate trajectories. The paper 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 programme to realize its potential."

The paper can be read at http://www.idsa.in/sites/default/files/OP_SkysNoLimit.pdf

Cheers,

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

Why Not Space Solar Power?

Spacenews has published an OpEd by Don Flournoy on Space Solar Power

From: http://blog.nss.org/?p=2064  or www.spacenews.com/commentaries

Why Not Space Solar Power?

Mon, 13 September, 2010

www.spacenews.com/commentaries

By Don Flournoy

The 2010 U.S. National Space Policy, which supports a robust and competitive commercial space sector, is good news for those of us working to design and launch the new types of satellites that will collect solar energy in space and deliver it to Earth as a nonpolluting source of electrical power.

Among the goals of President Barack Obama’s National Space Policy is expansion of international cooperation on mutually beneficial space activities to “broaden and extend the benefits of space” and “further the peaceful use of space.”

As members of the National Space Society, the Society of Satellite Professionals International and the Space Energy Group, we believe space, as a shared resource, can best be explored and developed by a partnership of nations and businesses working together.

Since acquiring clean and abundant energy is a common requirement for economic growth and an eventual necessity for the health of all societies, harvesting space solar power is a logical human endeavor when the high frontier is precisely where energy is most plentiful. But achieving success doing large-scale commercial innovation in outer space requires long-range planning, pooling of financial resources, sharing of knowledge and expertise, and the careful framing of a way forward that will earn and sustain the public trust.

In naming the CEOs who will serve on his new advisory board on trade issues, Obama noted in July that the U.S. is on track to double exports in the next five years, and he pointed to some of the ways the American economy is being repositioned to better compete abroad. When adding that announcement to the outcomes of the June summit of the Group of 20 major industrial countries in Canada and recent federal policy statements intimating that (certain) export controls will be relaxed and cooperation in space will be encouraged, it would appear that the U.S. could be entering a new era of openness for international business.

To this end, we would like to see some greater leadership and support given to space solar power development by NASA and the U.S. departments of Energy and Commerce. A helpful first step would be a U.S.-led space solar power feasibility study to which all interested nations are invited to contribute.

In the context of the U.S. National Space Policy, such a feasibility study could lead the way in assessing and promoting “appropriate cost and risk sharing among participating nations in international partnerships.” It would demonstrate U.S. “tangible leadership in space,” leveraging the capabilities of allies while assuring continuing adherence to the U.N. Treaty on Exploration and Use of Outer Space — now signed by 125 states, including China and India — that dictates “nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction” shall not be placed in outer space.

At the International Space Development Conference held in Chicago in May, multiple nations participated in a National Space Society-initiated Solar Power Symposium to examine in depth opportunities and challenges for energy generation in near space. Former Indian President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, scientist, aeronautical engineer and proponent of space solar power, addressing the symposium via videoconference, spoke to the need for international cooperation in space. He proposed a multilateral global initiative that could map out for us what needs to be done to bring space solar power to operational reality.

From our perspective, space solar power is a meaningful science, engineering and commercial challenge that deserves our attention and investment. In the wake of the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster, we think it is time for the U.S. to put space solar power on our national energy agenda. At the same time, we must seek opportunities to learn from and participate with Canada, China, India, Japan, the European Union and others taking their first tentative steps to bring space solar energy to Earth.

In a June Times of India commentary on strategic international diplomacy, U.S. Sen. John Kerry expressed support for a partnership with India that would include “the quest for new technologies and fresh ideas for economically viable ways to speed the shift to renewable energy sources.”

We believe that within the mainstream of global science, engineering and environmental management there are game-changing ideas and technologies that await testing. It is time to see some space solar power demonstration projects. Of all the possible alternative energy sources on the near horizon, we believe space solar power is our best chance for addressing the worldwide challenges of climate change, renewable energy and continued economic growth.

__________

Don Flournoy is a professor and editor of the Online Journal of Space Communication (www.spacejournal.org) at Ohio University. This article also reflects the opinions of Robert Bell of the Society of Satellite Professionals International, Mark Hopkins of the National Space Society, Stephan Tennsel of Space Energy AG, and Feng Hsu of the Space Energy Group.

More news and blog entries on the Indo-US SBSP proposal:

From: http://adpnews.info/?nid=af95d8c333f5d1e2

India-US space-based solar power plan could solve major energy issues - study

(ADPnews) - Sep 14, 2010 - A space-based solar power (SBSP) programme developed by India and the US could solve the energy security and climate change issues, according to a report by US Air Force lieutenant colonel Peter Garretson.

Garretson, who is on a sabbatical as an international fellow at the institute for defence studies and analyses in New Delhi, considers that the two countries should conduct a feasibility analysis on such a programme, whose aim will be to replace fossil fuel energy with SBSP by 2025. However, in order to work on such a plan, India should first sign the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) document, which the country declined to do earlier, deeming it discriminatory.

In his report, Garretson has included a three-phase plan, which starts with an initial five-year programme costing USD 10 million to USD 30 million for the development of contributing technologies and competent workforce. It is followed by a USD-10-billion investment in the construction of a sub-scale space solar power system over a 10-year period. The concluding stage envisages the establishment of an Indian-US consortium to face energy security and carbon mitigation issues.

Such a SBSP programme could be managed by the US Department of State's Office of Ocean Environment and Science and the Prime Minister's Council on Climate Change in India, according to Garretson's report.

From: http://evworld.com/currents.cfm?jid=144

Making the Case An Indo-USA Space-Based Solar Power Programme

By Bill Moore

I had a rude awakening this evening. What began as a casual journey into India's space programme -- the reasons will be apparent momentarily -- ended with the sobering realization that along with the sub-continent's explosive economic growth and the rise of the middle class, also comes the apparent need to flex its political muscles militarily in the form of nuclear submarines -- the first launched last year with more on order -- tactical transport aircraft jointly developed with the Russians, and even their own armada of aircraft carriers. And then there's their plan to send men to the moon by 2016.

I've been reading Peter Garretson's 2009 research paper for Indian Defense Studies and Analysis entitled, "Sky's No Limit: Space-based Solar Power, The Next Major Step in the Indo-US Strategic Partnership?" It is a heavily footnoted document of some 174 pages and six appendices. In it, Garretson makes the case that the next step in the United States and India's strategic relationship should be establishment of a "big policy" programme (I'll use the British spelling) to put solar power generation systems in earth orbit. While the paper doesn't go into the technological issues, it does focus on the policy implementation barriers of such a collaboration.

Of course, as a parochial American with only a passing knowledge of Indian food -- which I love -- and Bollywood movies -- which I also find highly entertaining as long as I can keep up with the English subtitles -- I asked myself was India, in fact, technologically capable of making a meaningful contribution to such a programme? Sure, their Chandrayaan-1 moon mission was an impressive achievement, discovering evidence for water, but could they really be expected to lift millions of pounds of components into geosynchronous orbit to build hundreds, even thousands of 5 km width solar arrays?

The answer is, in fact, yes. The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has a series of launch vehicles; the largest being the GSLV III, now in development, will be capable of lifting 4,500kg (10,000 lbs) of payload into geosynchronous transfer orbit, putting it on a par with competing American and French launch vehicles. Importantly, it appears they can do it rather cheaply. The Chandrayaan-1 mission in 2008 cost just US$79 million.

And why should India or the United States even consider such an initiative, either alone or in partnership? Besides the fact that the Japanese are spending money on their own SBSP program and plan to have a 1 GW platform in orbit by 2030, you mean? Garretson takes pains to explain that it may, in fact, be the only choice the planet has to provide humanity with the clean, pollution-free, electric power it needs, especially in populous nations like India where 50-60% of it citizens will be living in cities by 2039. At present, India, as well as the United States, depends on coal-fired power plants for half of its electricl power generation capacity. It is estimated India's coal reserves will last 80 years, but Garretson points out that at a projected growth rate of just 5 percent a year, those reserves will be exhausted in 45 years; and this doesn't even address the critical problem of water shortages in India, water on which thermoelectric power plants, both fossil fuel and nuclear, are dependent.

So, why not simply build vast solar farms in India's Thar Desert, which stretches across the northwestern states of Rajasthan and Gujara, and occupies more than 2.5 million square kilometers? Efficiency and intermittency are why. All earth-bound solar installations suffer from the same problem: the sun shines on them only part of the day and the atmosphere -- and its associated weather -- reduce their efficiency even further. Space-based solar stations can provide solar power, transmitted back to earth in the form of low-frequency radio waves, 24 hours a day at the sun's maximum power rate of 1330+ watts per meter. At least that's the theory. Those same radio waves have to penetrate the atmosphere and its weather, be converted by circular farms of specially-designed rectenna's with 80 percent-plus efficiency back to electric power and then distributed to urban centers. In a footnote(14) on page 23 of Garretson's paper, it is estimated that only two percent of the energy transmitted down to earth would be lost in the form of heat, and that the type of radio wave being considered will have no or virtually no impact on humans or animals. He notes that, "NASA, DOE, and EPA have conducted extensive experiments to assess if there were ill effects to biological life or the upper atmosphere due to such beams. None of the studies conducted so far suggest that there is any significant detrimental effect."

Assuming all other objections and technical issues can be resolved, what's the potential of SBSP and what's its cost? Citing studies by James Snead and Harry Stine (footnote 10, page 22) Garretson estimates, "the exploitable energy in orbit exceeds not just the electrical demand of the planet today, but the total energy needs of a fully developed planet with over 10 billion people." As for the question of cost, Sky's No Limit estimates that the world currently spends $6 trillion on energy of all forms annually. Most of that energy produces highly undesirably pollution and climate change, which SBSP would not. Further, SBSP would make no environmental demands on the planet's freshwater supply.

The idea would certainly seem to have merit. Imagine an EV world where all our motor vehicles are powered by electricity transmitted from thousands of orbiting solar stations. However, moving such a project from the dreamer's stage to the schemer's stage will prove the first major obstacle to overcome. If nothing else, Sky's No Limit makes thought-provoking reading. It certainly opened my eyes to the state of technological development taking place in India beyond Tata Nanos, Revas and Hero electric bicycles.

New Space Energy Newsletter:
http://www.spaceenergy.com/AnnouncementRetrieve.aspx?ID=56424
It reviews the IDSA-CFR paper on Indo-US Space Solar Power cooperation.

Introduction of Peter Garretson´s New SBSP Paper: "Sky´s No Limit"

Hot off the press, Space Energy is proud to announce the publication of the latest paper from one of the original SBSP `caballeros´, Peter Garretson, entitled “Sky’s No Limit: Space-Based Solar Power, the Next Major Step in the Indo-US Strategic Partnership?”

Referred to as IDSA Occasional Paper No. 9, this paper provides a policymaker's overview of a highly scalable, revolutionary, renewable energy technology, Space-Based Solar Power (SBSP), and evaluates its utility within 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 and energy-climate trajectories.  The paper 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 programme to realize its potential.

Peter Garretson's credentials are unparalleled.  He was a Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), International Fellow in India, and a Visiting Fellow at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) in New Delhi.  He is an active duty Air Force officer on sabbatical as an Air Force Fellow.  He was previously the Chief of Future Science and Technology Exploration for Headquarters Air Force, Directorate of Strategic Plans and Programs, and is a former DARPA Service Chiefs’ Intern, and former Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) Service Academy Research Associate.  He is a published author on Space Grand Strategy, and is a recipient of the National Space Society’s (NSS) Space Pioneer Award.

Peter Garretson´s past IDSA papers can be found here.

A presentation made by the author of the IDSA-CFR Report can be downloaded from here:

http://www.maficstudios.com/pete/download.html

Space Based Solar Power for India - US Strategic Partnership

Just two months to the day before President Obama visits India, India' premier strategic think tank publishes this
"Skies No Limit: Space-Based Solar Power as the Next Major step in the Indo-US strategic Partnership"
http://www.idsa.in/occasionalpapers/SkysNoLimit_pgarretson_2010

Providing a blueprint for binational cooperation to address the linked problems of energy security, sustainable development and climate change!

Renewable Energy Partnership? SBSP & India

From: http://www.idsa.in/publications/stratcomments/PeterGarretson220509.htm

Space as the Source of Our Future Energy
Peter Garretson
May 22, 2009
The idea is to launch giant orbiting solar collectors into space, where there is no night, and beam the power to receivers on the ground, where it is fed as electricity to the grid. Long championed by former President Dr. Abdul Kalam, and the Aerospace Society of India (AeSI), the idea is seen as a long-term solution for energy security and climate change, and the most environmentally benign and scalable renewable energy option, which deserves its own focused development programme.
Such satellites would be the largest, most ambitious space projects ever contemplated. A single solar power satellite would be several kilometres long, with a transmitting antenna about a kilometre across, and generate between one and ten Gigawatts (as much power as 10 nuclear power plants). It might weigh tens of thousands of metric tons and would require a fleet of reusable space vehicles to construct. Follow-on designs might use materials from the Moon.
Existing communications satellites use a similar process, using the power of the Sun on their solar arrays to power a radio transmitter for sending radio and television signals. But the small antenna on communications satellites prevents them from being able to focus a beam for power-beaming. To beam power, the transmitter must be increased to almost a kilometre long, and a special receiver, a rectifying antenna, or rectenna is required. The rectenna would be several kilometres across, about the size of a municipal airport, made of a thin metal mesh, and would be 80 per cent transparent to sunlight, allowing the land underneath it to be used for pastoral, agricultural use or production of algae biodiesel. Far from some scary space-ray, the large transmitting and receiving antenna, the high conversion efficiency, and the constant availability allow the beam to be very low power—about a sixth the strength of sunlight on a warm sun tan beach day. Except that sunlight contains high frequency ultraviolet rays which can strip off electrons in our cells and cause cancer. The beam from a Solar Power Satellite would be of low frequency, very similar to current wi-fi devices, and is non-ionizing and not dangerous like UV.
Proponents feel it is an attractive option for several reasons. One, by 2025 the world will have added another two billion people, its energy needs will have doubled, the combustion of fossil fuels will continue to alter the composition of the atmosphere with concerns about climate change, and by mid-century we would have exhausted most of our fossil fuels. By mid-century India alone would have added 300,000,000 people, expanded its electrical generating capacity eleven-fold, from 121 GWe to 1350 GWe, moved upwards of 60 per cent of its population to cities, and exhausted all or almost all of its fossil resources. How are we to maintain a sustainable civilization if we remain a closed system and never access the vast wealth of all the rest of the universe?
In space faring advocate Mike Snead’s excellent paper, “The End of Easy Energy and What to Do About It,” he lays out the need and opportunity for Space Solar Power. Today the total world needs about 81 Billion Barrel of Oil Equivalent (BOE) thermal or about 15 TWe. And by 2100, to complete development to the “gold standard” of 30 BOE per capita, will require an expansion to probably 300 billion BOE, or roughly 55 TWe. By 2100 we will probably be about 50 years beyond the age of oil, and will have had to increase our renewable/sustainable energy 26 times. Even with a massive up-scaling of terrestrial renewable energy in the most optimistic estimates, the deficit is still close to 60 per cent. 55TWe is just very hard to come by on Earth. But what if we go to space, where energy is abundant, where the Sun never sets and delivers up to 9 times as much energy per unit area as on Earth, and 24 hours a day? There, in the Geostationary belt alone, is thought to be in excess of 177TWe of exploitable green solar energy—and it will be there for at least a billion years. If we could provide 55 GWe of green energy we fix our climate and energy problems in the long run, and we would grow the Gross World Product (GWP) over ten-fold. Imagine a world greater than an order of magnitude wealthier, a world fully developed with the security that a high standard of living brings. Can we afford to ignore a resource that vast? Does not extraordinary reward justify extraordinary effort? Those in the space movement think it cannot be ignored and that we need not only have to look beneath our feet for our energy, but can look to the stars for renewable, sustainable, scalable energy, and for a cleaner, brighter tomorrow.