Solar Power Satellites

Kind of a weird question, but have there been studies on putting a rectenna on a ship for space solar powered ship?

Bypassing fuel logistics for vehicles seems to have space solar's big potential advantage as it doesn't have to compete with stationary power infrastructure. You don't want nuclear powered ships all over the place either.
 
shin_getter said:
Kind of a weird question, but have there been studies on putting a rectenna on a ship for space solar powered ship?
Click to expand...

It would require a *big* rectenna. Peak power on the ground would be something like 200 watts/square meter. Big cargo ships require something like 20 megawatt engines. So your rectenna would need to be 100,000 square meters, assuming the SPS is directly overhead. the further north/south it is, the bigger the rectenna. the Nimitz class supercarrier flight deck is about 18,200 square meters, so you'll need five and a half of them. For one ship.

shin_getter said:
You don't want nuclear powered ships all over the place either.
Click to expand...
Speak for yourself. I want an all-nuclear US Navy and an all-nuclear US commercial fleet. *Thousands* of enormous vessels plying the sealanes flying Old Glory and packing reactors. Once that's accomplished, ban fossil-fueled vessels over a certain tonnage from US waters.
 
Rigid airships, rectennas and ion wind might be a better match than mammoth surface vessels.

The dirigible IS the rectenna with ion wind blades sticking through the envelope.

An air warp nacelle.

Closest thing to Star Trek we are ever likely to have---outside of supercavs'

Beam power to airship used as a "lifter" for silent flight and no moving parts---no engine noise.
 
That’s why you have the Weather Channel, to steer around storms.

A new paper on Space Solar Power:

Borat’s Baikonur Bargain would allow a Boeing Space Freighter type LM-9:
spacenews.com

Kazakhstan joins China's ILRS moon base program

Kazakhstan joins China's ILRS moon base program Kazakhstan has signed a memorandum on cooperation on the China-led ILRS and will also explore commercial use of each other’s spaceports.
spacenews.com spacenews.com

Where SuperHeavy has to turn around and boost back to the coast, winged first and second stages simply fly towards China—perhaps self ferry back using Buran type guidance and runways.
 
publiusr said:
Where SuperHeavy has to turn around and boost back to the coast, winged first and second stages simply fly towards China—perhaps self ferry back using Buran type guidance and runways.
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A. Boost back is cheaper than any ferrying,
B. Buran guidance was crap. It wasn't active guidance, it just followed a preplanned script.
C.. Self ferry is another cost and performance sinkhole. Also, jet engines and fuel tanks would dirty up the vehicle with hydrocarbons.
 
Iceland looks at SSP
www.space.com

Breakthrough coming? Iceland could get solar power from space in 2030

The space-based solar power demonstration aspires to be the world's first.
www.space.com www.space.com

I wonder if this will allow solar thermal to outperform PV with less acreage

Sunshade

Planetary Sunshade - Cosmoquest Forum

https://www.planetarysunshade.org/home "STATE OF SPACE-BASED SOLAR RADIATION MANAGEMENT March, 2023 This report is an introduction to the concept of space-based geoengineering, or a planetary sunshade. A sunshade could complement existing efforts to mitigate the climate crisis. It is intended...
forum.cosmoquest.org
 
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