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Showing posts with label Indo-US partnership. Show all posts

Showing posts with label Indo-US partnership. Show all posts
10 OCTOBER 2010

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, its
obvious that teams of dedicated government officials are working very, very
hard in advance of President Obamas 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 Societys (NSS) Space Pioneer Award.
His paper is titled,
"Skys no limit: Space-based Solar Power, the next
major step in the Indo-US Strategic Partnership".

The paper "provides a policymakers 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/
P O S T E D B Y T H E V I S I O N AT 1 0 / 1 0 / 2 0 1 0 0 2 : 1 2 : 0 0 P M 1 C O M M E N T:
L A B E L S : B H E L , C F R , D A R PA, I D S A , I N D I A , I N D O - U S PAR T N E R S H I P , I S R O , L A N L ,
NSS, OBAMA, SBSP

25 SEPTEMBER 2010

More on India USA Space Based Solar Power

Earlier I reported on the New IDSA-CFR Paper Proposing a Joint Space Solar
Power Program:
http://www.idsa.in/occasionalpapers/SkysNoLimit_pgarretson_2010
http://www.cfr.org/publication/22918/skys_no_limit.html
And that it had been endorsed by the National Space Society:
http://www.nss.org/news/releases/pr20100913.pdf
I had also re-posted several articles reviewing the paper:
"India-US space-based solar power programme urged" which occurred across a
number of news outlets across India, and "India-US space-based solar power
plan could solve major energy issues - study" from ADP news, and "Making the
Case An Indo-USA Space-Based Solar Power Programme"
By Bill Moore In EV World, and the review on the SpaceEnergy Newsletter. Don
Flournoy's piece "Why Not Space Solar Power" also amplified India's possible
partnership role.
One can now also find earlier references, including this interview in the Times
of India:
http://www.acq.osd.mil/nsso/solar/SBSPInterimAssesment0.1.pdf
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/interviews/Space-basedsolar-power-could-solve-energy-crisis/articleshow/4759530.cms
http://m.timesofindia.com/PDATOI/articleshow/4759530.cms
http://www.pugwashindia.org/article_detail.asp?aid=198

http://www.punemirror.in/index.aspx?Page=article&sectname=News%20%20City&sectid=2&contentid=20090413200904130234463648ecfff86
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=4&ved=0CCoQFjAD&url=http
%3A%2F%2Fwww.tifr.res.in%2F~aset%2Ffull_text%2FFT_2009%2FSpace-Based
%2520Solar%2520Power--The%2520Opportunity%2520of%2520a%2520Century
%2520Indian%2520Tech%2520Societies%2520(IIT
%2520Madrass).pdf&rct=j&q=garretson%20india%20space%20solar
%20power&ei=5BGeTM2gD4a8lQfRybDsAg&usg=AFQjCNF1CIhSehLCAwkOj6QDLH
AqFTmetQ&sig2=Q3pwYCo66VmuXRE6yYBJOQ&cad=rja
Now, several New articles have appeared:
For Instance:
"Report proposes Indo US space based solar energy program by 2025" in
EcoFriend
"Multilateral Space-based Solar Energy Program Led by India, US Proposed" in
Scientific American & Clean Technica
"Missile Man of India" in Hollywood Issues
"New Report Asks US and India to Take Solar Energy Into Space" in CleanTechies
"American Indian Solar Space Partnership" in GreenMuze
"India-US solar power initiative urged" in Overseas Indian
"India and U.S., the future rulers of the photovoltaic space?" bnrenergia.it
"Photovoltaic space: in 2025 will start a joint program maxi USA - India?"
greenme.it
From: http://www.ecofriend.org/entry/report-proposes-indo-us-space-basedsolar-energy-program-by-2025/
Report proposes Indo US space based solar energy program by 2025
Sukhmani | Sep 20 2010
Eco Factor: Report proposes space-based solar energy programs to meet energy
needs.
A report published by an Indian Defense ministry-backed think tank has
proposed the establishment of an Indo US international space-based solar
energy program. Is this ever happens it could well become the second most
important deal inked by the two nations ever since the signing of the nuclear
deal. The project envisages the establishment of solar collectors in

geostationary orbit to collect solar radiation throughout the year even during
the night. The energy laden microwaves would then be transmitted to ground
based collectors. If initiated the path breaking could become a commercially
viable business venture by 2025.
The massive project holds great significance for both countries apart from
taking their strategic relationship forward. Both the countries have gigantic
energy needs and are under immense international pressure to own up and
reduce their carbon emissions. Fortunately both are blessed in terms of solar
energy sources which all the more sense why they seriously work on the
project.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=multilateral-space-basedsolar-ener-2010-09
http://cleantechnica.com/2010/09/18/multilateral-space-based-solar-energyprogram-led-by-india-us-proposed/
Multilateral Space-based Solar Energy Program Led by India, US Proposed
September 18, 2010 in Clean Energy, Policy, Solar Energy, Space
Mridul Chadha
Student, Environmental Engineer, Writer
A report published by an Indian Defense ministry-backed think tank has
proposed for the establishment of an international space-based solar energy
program with India and the United States initiating this massive project. The
report is prepared by Peter Garretson, a US Air Force lieutenant colonel,
working with the Institue of Defense Studies and Analyses, New Delhi. The
reports calls for the Indian and the United States governments to extend their
strategic partnerships to initiate this pathbreaking project and make the spacebased solar energy a commercially viable business venture by 2025.
The report proposes that the two countries should wait no more and kick start
the project through a joint statement during President Obamas visit to India in
November. The author of the report has proposed a three-tiered approach for
the implementation of the program.
Expanding on the three-stage plan, Garretson says an initial five-year $10-30

million programme will develop contributing technologies and build a

competent work force culminating in a roadmap for a demonstration prototype.
A second, $10 billion, 10-year phase will see the formation of an
international consortium to construct a sub-scale space solar power system that
can directly be scaled up by industry. The final stage will entail India-US
leadership to set up an international for-profit consortium along the lines of the
INTELSAT model to address energy security and carbon mitigation concerns.
Energy and Climate Change
Both India and the United States are among the top five greenhouse gas
emitters in the world. Both are under immense pressure to curb their carbon
emissions production. While India is being pressurized to cut back on its carbon
emissions resulting from its rapidly growing industrial and power sector, the
United States is constantly being reminded of its historical responsibility to
reduce its carbon emissions.
India needs to expand its power generation capacity in order to maintain a high
economic growth rate and improve the living standards of its billion plus
population. While India is immensely blessed in terms of solar energy
resources, the problem land availability to execute large-scale solar energy
power plants is one of the major hurdles in a comprehensive solar energy
infrastructure expansion.
Space-based solar power, therefore, seems to be a great choice for India.
Space-based solar collectors placed in a geostationary orbit can collect solar
radiation for 99 percent time of the year and even during the night. This
radiation would be then transmitted to ground-based collectors in the form of
microwaves. These microwaves would have far more energy than the normal
radiation we receive on the earths surface.
Strategic Advantage
Such a project can reap tremendous scientific and strategic benefits for both
the countries. India is an emerging global power especially in Asia, looking to

counter Chinas increasing influence and might in the region. United States is
desperately looking for new partners in Asia as Japan seems no longer capable
of countering Chinas increasing economic, military and strategic prowess.
The Catch
The author of the report has specified that in order to ensure the successful
execution of this ambitious program India would have to sign the Missile
Technology Control Regime which prevents the proliferation of missile
technology. India has thus far refused to sign the MTCR. Perhaps, realizing the
strategic and energy-related advantages of this projects the two countries can
work out a solution similar to the Indo-US nuclear deal which gave India access
to nuclear fuel and technology even though it is not a signatory to the Nuclear
Non-proliferation Treaty.
India and the United States have long history of space science cooperation. The
United States helped the Indian Space Research Organization to help launch
some of Indias earliest satellites in 1970s. Earlier this year, the two countries
signed a historic agreement allowing ISRO to launch non-commercial, US-made
satellites. It was NASAs Moon Mineralogy Mapper riding on Indias first
unmanned moon orbiter, Chandryaan-1, that detected the presence of water
ice on the moon in 2009.
Image: NASA
The views presented in the above article are authors personal views and do
not represent those of TERI/TERI University where the author is currently
pursuing a Masters degree.
From: http://www.hollywoodissues.com/tag/council
Missile Man of India: Latest News Updates India and the US should explore the
feasibility of a space-based solar power (SBSP) programme with the ultimate
aim of putting in place a commercially viable system by 2025, a report by a
defence ministry funded think tank says.

There is, however, a catch. India would first have to

accede to the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) before the system is
put in place, says the report that has been prepared by Peter Garretson, a US
Air Force lieutenant colonel on a sabbatical as an international fellow at the
New Delhi-based Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA).
Noting that SBSP can be the next major step in the Indo-US strategic
partnership, the 174-page report says the launch of such a potentially
revolutionary programme can begin with a joint statement by Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh and US President Barak Obama during the latters visit to New
Delhi in November.
Besides helping to solve the linked problems of energy security, development
and climate change, the SBSP will provide an opportunity for India to use its
successful space programme while shaping a future peaceful space regime,
Garretson said.
He has proposed a three-tiered programme, moving from basic technology and
capacity building to a multi-lateral demonstrator and ultimately to an
international commercial public-private-partnership entity to supply
commercial power in the 2025 timeframe.
The report concludes that SBSP does appear to be a good fit for the US
domestic, Indian domestic and bilateral agendas, and there are adequate
political space and precursor agreements to begin a bilateral program.
Expanding on the three-stage plan, Garretson says an initial five-year $10-30
million programme will develop contributing technologies and build a
competent work force culminating in a roadmap for a demonstration prototype.
A second, $10 billion, 10-year phase will see the formation of an international
consortium to construct a sub-scale space solar power system that can directly
be scaled up by industry. The final stage will entail India-US leadership to set up
an international for-profit consortium along the lines of the INTELSAT model to

address energy security and carbon mitigation concerns.

The overall program goal must be to enable, by 2025, space-based solar power
as a viable economic replacement for fossil fuel energy, and second, to position
the US and Indian technical and industrial bases to enjoy a competitive edge in
what is expected to be a significant and profitable market, the report says.
Garretson says that the US and India have demonstrated via a number of recent
steps that they are ready for a deeper partnership, inclusive of sensitive and
strategic technology in space and energy.
An international SBSP demo project is within reach of present engineering and
mega science budgets, and can be done with existing launch vehicles, he says.
From the US side, the programme can be managed out of the Department of
States Office of Ocean Environment and Science with funds coming from the
Department of Energys Advanced Research Projects Agency for Energy. On the
Indian side, the report says, the high-level oversight can be provided by the
Prime Ministers Council on Climate Change.
According to the report, such a programme linking the technical bases of the
worlds largest democracies might be a way out of Indias (and the worlds)
climate-energy dilemma.
It will also become one of the grandest and most ambitious humanitarian and
environmentalist causes that will be sure to excite a generation as did the
Apollo program that put a man on the moon, the report says.
From: http://blog.cleantechies.com/2010/09/21/new-report-us-and-india-solarenergy-space/
New Report Asks US and India to Take Solar Energy Into Space
JustmeansPublished on Date September 21st, 2010 by Justmeans
Posted in Category Asia-Pacific, Category North America, Category Solar
Several months ago, I mentioned the Shimizu Corporations plan to place solar
panels on the moon to generate renewable energy that would be transferred
back to Earth and distributed along power lines. Shimizu Corporations hope
was that they could begin working on their project sometime in 2020 when
Japan planned to have a solar powered base upon the moon. Now, a plan
coming out of India is suggesting that it is time for India and the United States
to form a partnership that would allow them to begin developing a program for
space solar power.
The report pushing for space based solar energy was published by a think tank

that is being supported by the Indian Defense Ministry with the aid of one
Lieutenant Colonel Peter Garretson of the United States Air Force. The report
lays out a three step plan that would have India and the United States entered
into a commercial energy business venture that would be generating large
quantities of solar energy from installations placed in orbit around the Earth.
The first stage, according to the report, details how an investment of $10 $30
million over the course of five years would be required to develop the
technology required for both the satellites and the means in which to deliver
them to space. The second step would see a further investment of nearly $10
billion over the course of ten years as the two countries developed a system to
retrieve and sell the power on a commercial and industrial scale. The final
scale would have the two countries establishing what the report calls an
international for-profit consortium to address energy security and carbon
mitigation concerns. This would result in a fully realized program, ideally, by
2025.
The research and the proposed program for solar energy are mired in a variety
of political obstacles. While the creation of a large scale solar program like this
would go far in aiding India in cutting down on carbon emissions without taking
up already precious city space they would be required to sign the Missile
Technology Control Regime treaty. The agreement, which was signed in 1987 by
several nations to prevent the proliferation of missile technology, has long been
refused by India. The report also indicates that it would be necessary to
coordinate their efforts with the United Nations and other countries in order to
prepare for the increased amount of travel that would be going to and from
Earth as a consequence of initiating this program. Though the political issues
remain, the people involved are confident they would be easy to remedy and
are optimistic that an agreement can be made between India and the United
States regarding this program in November when President Obama plans to
meet with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Though some may be concerned that tossing more satellites into Earths orbit
would be contributing to the already crowded situation going on up there, the
fact remains that this would be a considerable leap forward for solar energy.
Taking solar energy collection into space also presents an ideal alternative to
countries like India or Japan who are faced with the obstacle of limited space

within their nations for the construction of vast solar farms. With any luck, the
next news we may hear about this project may come in November during the
aforementioned visit.
Article by Richard Cooke, appearing courtesy Justmeans.
From:
American Indian Solar Space Partnership
Wednesday, 22 September 2010 GreenMuze Staff
An Indian Defense Ministry-backed report suggests a joint US$10 billion (7.65
billion) Indian-US space based solar power generation program would be good
for political relations as well as reducing greenhouse gases. US Air Force
lieutenant colonel Peter Garretson, in conjunction with the Institute of Defense
Studies, New Delhi (India), wrote a report recommending the Indian and US
governments forge a strategic partnership to make space-based solar energy
commercially viable by 2025. President Obamas November visit to India may
be the venue to announce the partnership.
The proposal is to have a five year pre-program development program, costing
US$10-30 million (7.65 - 22.96 million) to eliminate risk and to identify the
advanced technology needed for the project. Followed by a US$10 billion
(7.65 billion), ten year international project to design, manufacture, and
launch an orbital solar power generation system.
Since India and the US are both major greenhouse gas emitters, developing
technology that will reduce their emissions is seen as a progressive approach to
dealing with climate change. India has great solar power potential but scarce
land areas to implement it, while the US would like to be a world leader in the
renewable energy and, being a late entrant in the field, needs to play catch up.
A space-based system therefore seems to fit into the plans of both countries.
For India, it is a potential major international step up, and a great opportunity
to grow in stature in Asia, and counter Chinas growing influence.
Unfortunately, politics always gets in the way, and India has yet to sign the
Missile Technology Control Regime, meant to prevent the spread of missile

technology. The US is concerned about the spread of nuclear weapons

technology (such as from Pakistan to North Korea) and nuclear weapons
delivery systems.
In a world facing great uncertainty due to the causes, effects and consequences
of global climate change, it seems the last thing that we need is to add in global
politics that are likely to muddy the waters and likely add greater risk of
projects failing to deliver on their clean energy promises.
From: http://overseasindian.in/2010/sept/news/20101409-095018.shtml
India-US solar power initiative urged
Bengaluru, Sep 14 India and the U.S. should explore the feasibility of a spacebased solar power (SBSP) programme with the ultimate aim of putting in place a
commercially viable system by 2025, a report by a Defence Ministry funded
think tank says.
There is, however, a catch. India would first have to accede to the Missile
Technology Control Regime (MTCR) before the system is put in place, says the
report that has been prepared by Peter Garretson, a US Air Force lieutenant
colonel on a sabbatical as an international fellow at the New Delhi-based
Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA).
Noting that SBSP can be "the next major step in the Indo-US strategic
partnership", the 174-page report says the launch of such a potentially
revolutionary programme can begin with a joint statement by Prime Minister
Dr. Manmohan Singh and U.S. President Barak Obama during the latter's visit to
New Delhi in November.
Besides helping to "solve the linked problems of energy security, development
and climate change", the SBSP will provide an opportunity for India to use its
successful space programme while shaping a future peaceful space regime,
Garretson said.
He has proposed a three-tiered programme, moving from basic technology and
capacity building to a multi-lateral demonstrator and ultimately to an

international commercial public-private-partnership entity to supply

commercial power in the 2025 timeframe.
The report concludes that SBSP "does appear to be a good fit for the U.S.
domestic, Indian domestic and bilateral agendas, and there are adequate
political space and precursor agreements to begin a bilateral programme".
Expanding on the three-stage plan, Garretson says an initial five-year $10-30
million programme will develop contributing technologies and build a
competent work force culminating in a roadmap for a demonstration prototype.
A second, $10 billion, 10-year phase will see the formation of an international
consortium to construct a sub-scale space solar power system that can directly
be scaled up by industry. The final stage will entail India-US leadership to set up
an international for-profit consortium along the lines of the INTELSAT model to
address energy security and carbon mitigation concerns.
"The overall program goal must be to enable, by 2025, space-based solar power
as a viable economic replacement for fossil fuel energy, and second, to position
the US and Indian technical and industrial bases to enjoy a competitive edge in
what is expected to be a significant and profitable market," the report says.
Garretson says that the U.S. and India have demonstrated via a number of
recent steps that they are ready for a deeper partnership, inclusive of sensitive
and strategic technology in space and energy.
"An international SBSP demo project is within reach of present engineering and
mega science budgets, and can be done with existing launch vehicles," he says.
From the US side, the programme can be managed out of the Department of
State's Office of Ocean Environment and Science with funds coming from the
Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency for Energy. On the
Indian side, the report says, the high-level oversight can be provided by the
Prime Minister's Council on Climate Change.
According to the report, such a programme linking the technical bases of the

world's largest democracies might be a way out of India's (and the world's)
climate-energy dilemma.
"It will also become one of the grandest and most ambitious humanitarian and
environmentalist causes that will be sure to excite a generation as did the
Apollo program that put a man on the moon," the report says.
"If there is a desire to pursue simultaneous development of low cost access to
orbit, then the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) assurance document
must be signed (by India)," the report says.
India has thus far resolutely declined to sign the MTCR, terming it
discriminatory.
It is also important that direct engagement with United Nations governance
bodies will be required, even before the demonstration stage, "to cope with
the significantly increased traffic to and from and in space", the report says.

From: http://translate.google.com/translate?
hl=en&sl=it&u=http://www.bnrenergia.it/leggi_news.asp%3Fid
%3D1208&ei=CxWeTLuWOsKBlAfK94CnCg&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnu
m=7&ved=0CEUQ7gEwBg&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dindia%2BUS%2Bspace%2Bsolar
%2Bpower%2Bsite:.it%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26hs%3D4iC
%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26tbs%3Dqdr:m
India and U.S., the future rulers of the photovoltaic space?
A new brick could be added to the long history of scientific cooperation
between two of the biggest polluters in the world. A report published by the
Indian Ministry of Defence suggests that the two countries can pave the way for
a program to use solar energy in orbit

(Rinnovabili.it) - A great opportunity for collaboration and growth in the energy

is introduced to India and the U.S. to jointly launch a program to capture solar
energy in space to be transformed into a commercially viable by 2025 . To
support and the report compiled by Peter Garretson, a U.S. Air Force lieutenant
colonel who worked in collaboration with the Institute for Research and
Defense Analysis in New Delhi.
The report calls on the governments of both countries to extend their strategic
partnership, already well proven in the field of an astronaut on a pioneering
project to harness the solar energy in space. A program that dell'SBSP (SpaceBased Solar Power), truly revolutionary not only for bilateral relations between
India and the United States but for all the objectives of energy security, supply
and fight against Climate Change in it. Both, in fact, affected by the pressure
from several fronts on the production of greenhouse gas emissions and seek
new and innovative sources of clean energy supply has become the 'gold rush'
of these years
The authors are also firmly convinced that the program provides the
opportunity to win New Delhi to move forward in its perpetual competition
with China.
The idea contained in 174 pages is that which is already the currency
Japan
Pacific Gas & Electric Pacific Gas & Electric
Position in geostationary orbit solar collectors can gather solar radiation, 24 h
24 h with an efficiency much higher than the unitary ground installations, and
then be sent back to earth via microwaves.
Garretson proposes a three-level, through the development of technology
demonstrator based on a multi-lateral, to the creation of an international body
based on a public-private partnership for commercial energy supply by the year
2025.
For the Asian giant, however, there is an obstacle, well outlined in the report,
the failure to adhere to the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) - India
considered discriminatory -, however, a delicate issue at the international
level. Once approved, the MTCR, the author explains, the operation of the
program would require "only" an initial funding in the order of 10-30 million
dollars to cover a period of 5 years and 10 billion dollars for the next decade .

From: http://translate.google.com/translate?
hl=en&sl=it&u=http://www.greenme.it/informarsi/energie-rinnovabili/3080fotovoltaico-spaziale-nel-2025-partira-un-maxi-programma-congiunto-usaindia&ei=CxWeTLuWOsKBlAfK94CnCg&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=10
&ved=0CE8Q7gEwCQ&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dindia%2BUS%2Bspace%2Bsolar
%2Bpower%2Bsite:.it%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26hs%3D4iC
%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26tbs%3Dqdr:m
Photovoltaic space: in 2025 will start a joint program maxi USA - India?
Marted 21 Settembre 2010 15:11 Scritto da Piergiorgio Pescarolo Tuesday,
September 21, 2010 15:11 Written by Piergiorgio Pescarolo
fotovoltaico_spaziale
Allies in a big program calendar to be launched into space by 2025. . E 'can be
the result of a technical partnership to address eco friendly between India and
U.S. , and which would, in fifteen years, creating a system of commercial
exploitation of space photovoltaics .
He informed these days, a report conducted by Peter Garretson , LieutenantColonel 's U.S. Air Force, who worked together to' study for the Institute for
Defense Analyses and New Delhi, on the development a joint project between
the two powers. More specifically, the report indicates a request to be made to
both governments (India and the USA) to verify the conditions for the extension
of a partnership in exploiting the ' solar energy in space for which has already
been identified Name: SBSP ( Space-Based Solar Power ).
On a technical level, the project includes the placement of solar collectors in
geostationary orbit, which are able to capture the sun's radiation, and send
them to Earth via a microwave system. The procurement, in that case, would
be constant (24 hours out of 24) and lead to significantly higher efficiency
when compared with terrestrial plants.
This would be an extension of the strategic alliance already in place in the
field of aerospace, and which - if implemented - could prove to be innovative in
the political relationship between the U.S. and India, and for the purposes
ecologic and contained in the report: in it, In fact, we speak of the need for

energy security of supply and climate change all "voices" to which both
countries should take into account. If for no other reason than the economic
aspect of the matter: the field of research and development in renewable
energy is the most important frontier in the economy in recent years.
The "Indian side," however, will be prejudiced by not adhering to the Missile
Technology Control Plan (MTCR - Missile Technology Control Regime), India
believes that it is discriminatory and that, internationally, an issue to be
addressed carefully.
Lieutenant Colonel Garretson, however, assumed - once past this obstacle even the need for financial supply for the project: a first tranche of funding
(albeit nebulous, since it indicates an amount ranging from 10 to 30 million
dollars) for the first 5 years, and a second appropriation (listed in the $ 10
billion) would cover the next decade.
Piergiorgio Pescarolo Piergiorgio Pescarolo

P O S T E D B Y T H E V I S I O N AT 9 / 2 5 / 2 0 1 0 1 0 : 5 3 : 0 0 AM 2 C O M M E N T S :
L A B E L S : I N D I A , I N D O - U S PAR T N E R S H I P , M T C R , O B A M A , O B A M A S PAC E S O L A R
P O W E R , S T R ATE G I C PAR T N E R S H I P

04 JUNE 2009

3 Space Solar Posts

From: http://www.ecohearth.com/eco-news/eco-op-ed/593-space-based-solarpower-the-time-has-come.html by Steven Kotler
Dreamy, yes, but not actually science fiction.
In 1968, Peter Glaserinventor, NASA-advisor and VP for Advanced Technology
at Arthur C. Littlefigured out in principle how to transmit electric power via
microwaves. A study done in 1981 by the EPA, DOE, NASA and the Department
of Commerce,researchers found no insurmountable obstacles to the whole

idea. The hard proof came in 2008, when researchers sent a microwave beam
92 miles between two Hawaiian islands and kept it up for four months straight.
The 92-mile distance was chosen because its equivalent to the amount of
atmosphere a microwave beamed from space would have to penetrate.
In fact, just about every piece in this puzzlefrom inflatable mylar solar panels
to the massive antennae needed to catch the signals back here on Earthhas
been solved. The real remaining problems are those familiar devils: cost and
will.
Skeptics often point out that despite the obvious advantages to space-based
solar power, price will always be the determining factor. Currently, using
existing technology, everyones best guess is that such a system would cost
about $10 billion to install and generate electricity atin a very optimistic
scenario50 cents per kWh.
Certainly thats not cheap, but skeptics often forget the size of the mess were
now in.
But shouldnt we consider a little resource reallocation?
According to Greenpeace, Americans subsidize the fossil-fuel industry in the
range of $15-to-$35 billion every year. And this doesnt include the extra $2
billion were ponying up for the Clean Coal Technology Roadmapa sure way to
get lost if there ever was one.
Hmm. What could we spend those billions on
Well, if you dont like my low-tech solution, how about the Advanced Research
Projects Agency-Energy, ARPA-Ethe newly established DOE big-think, no-ideatoo-crazy, pie-in-the sky energy research lab.
ARPA-E is one of the Obama administrations wondrous ideas, touted as our
great hope for an environmentally friendly energy future, with a current
operating budget of $400 million.

This means were willing to spend less than 1/25th (at the least) on serious
innovation when compared to what wemeaning the taxpayersspend
subsidizing the extraction industries.
And an interesting architecture discussion
From: http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1383/1 by Trevor Brown
A nation such as the United States would have developed enough clean and
renewable solar energy to become one of the worlds foremost energy
exporters.
If solar power satellites such as these did come into being, they would very
likely necessitate the overhaul of the entire global economy to achieve broad
compatibility with the new energy technology. The resultant economic
transformation would be incredible, creating many new high technology jobs in
industries across the world, but especially in the nation that was at the
epicenter of the SSP breakthrough. In fact, of greatest economic impact may
not be the new energy technology itself, but rather the wave of innovation
arising in complement to the new energy technology.
And yet the tremendous symbolic power that these satellites could possess may
have a profound impact far beyond the realm of economics and the
environment. Due to their photovoltaic properties, large enough spheres could
have a crystalline appearance in space visible from the Earth with the naked
eye, giving them the appearance of diamonds in the sky. If this were the case,
these satellites would not only drastically reduce carbon emissions and provide
a plentiful source of renewable energy, but there physical beauty across the
backdrop of both day and night skies could be surreal for onlookers, causing
many around the world to become enamored with the entrepreneurial verve of
a nation that developed them as well as with the culture that created them. A
nation that owned and operated what appeared to be diamonds in the sky
producing abundant clean energy would surely be at the forefront of global
leadership, attracting the sentiments of much of the worlds population into its
socio-political camp.
Of even greater socio-cultural impact could be their effect on the technological
aptitude of a nation, as the case may very well be that crystalline discs shining
like diamonds in the sky could inspire an entire generation of young Americans

to excel in math and science like never before. With the tangible, ever present
symbol of mathematical excellence glimmering in the sky by day and by night,
kids could very likely develop a whole new appreciation for the coolness of
science.
From:
http://www.idsa.in/publications/stratcomments/PeterGarretson220509.htm by
Peter Garretson
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 spaceray, 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 Sneads 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 energyand 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.
P O S T E D B Y T H E V I S I O N AT 6 / 0 4 / 2 0 0 9 0 1 : 5 4 : 0 0 P M 1 C O M M E N T:
L A B E L S : A P J K A L A M , A R PA- E , D A E , I N D I A , I N D O - U S PAR T N E R S H I P , M N R E , O B A M A
S PAC E S O L A R P O W E R , R E N E WAB L E E N E R G Y PAR T N E R S H I P , S N E A D

23 MAY 2009

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 powerabout 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 Sneads 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 energyand 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.