Obama Project: Space Solar Power (SSP)?

Space Solar Power (SSP) suffers from a chicken and egg problem. It is too expensive for NASA to divert research funding (although they will conduct experiments from the space station soon), and it isn't conventional enough to qualify for traditional investment & funding. Hopefully, as we ramp up to build more Nuclear Reactors some entity will try spending the equivalent amount on an SSP demonstration. (Bill Gates maybe?)

An interesting idea in comments following this article is the use of a beanstalk that can be built with conventional materials IF it ends 1 Diameter of Earth from the surface. We could use conventional (but reusable) chemical rockets to get materials to this low orbit, and then use beanstalks to lift them into the high orbits - saving a large part of the transportation cost, and do-able with today's technology. Another benefit is that such a beanstalk would be much less vulnerable to terrorist attacks.

Political transitions are a time to reflect and change policies - now is the time for the new administration to consider kick-starting the SSP industry. It would cost us less than many of the bailouts currently in the news, and provide enormous on-going benefits. The jobs created for such a program would be high-tech, and the product (energy) would be exportable.

Obama-Biden Transition Project: Space Solar Power (SSP) -- A Solution for Energy Independence & Climate Change | SpaceRef - Space News as it Happens:
"A National Security Space Office (NSSO) study concluded in October of 2007 that 'The magnitude of the looming energy and environmental problems is significant enough to warrant consideration of all options, to include ... space-based solar power.' This NSSO report also concluded that SSP has 'enormous potential for energy security, economic development, improved environmental stewardship, advancement of general space faring, and overall national security for those nations who construct and possess a (SSP) capability.'

We urge the next President of the United States to include SSP as a new start in a balanced federal strategy for energy independence and environmental stewardship, and to assign lead responsibility to a U.S. federal agency.

SSP Falls through the Cracks as Nobody is Responsible: No U.S. federal agency has a specific mandate or clear responsibility to pursue SSP. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) says SSP is a space project, and thus NASA's job. NASA says SSP is an energy project, and thus DOE's job. The NSSO-report found that SSP ''falls through the cracks' of federal bureaucracies, and has lacked an organizational advocate within the US Government.'

SSP has Significant Long-Term Advantages: SSP is unusual among renewable energy options as it satisfies all of the following criteria:

Immensely Scalable -- SSP can scale to provide the energy needs of the entire human civilization at America's standard of living. Most other near-term renewable options are strictly limited in scalability. As the NSSO report states "A single kilometer-wide band of geosynchronous Earth orbit experiences enough solar flux in one year to nearly equal the amount of energy contained within all known recoverable conventional oil reserves on Earth today."

Safe Global Availability -- Nuclear power technology cannot be safely shared with most of the countries on this planet because of proliferation concerns.

Steady & Assured -- SSP is a continuous, rather than intermittent, power source. It is not subject to the weather, the seasons, or the day-night cycle.

No Fundamental Breakthroughs -- SSP does not require a fundamental breakthrough in either physics or engineering, such as those required by fusion.

Highly Flexible and Optimal for Export -- SSP could enable America to become a net energy exporter. We could be the world's largest exporter of energy for the 21st and 22nd Centuries, and beyond."