Technical assessment of space solar-power research program

An independent analysis of current NASA studies on space solar power (SSP) by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics found many opport unities for international collaboration in an SSP program, including comput er modeling, solar array technologies development, demonstrations of SSP-en abling technologies, identification and pursuit of multiple-use application s, wireless power transmission experiments and studies, joint use of certai n facilities, and perhaps most important, a wide range of global policy, ec onomic, environmental. and legal considerations. Key SSP technologies could find broad applications in human space exploration, science and robotic sp ace exploration, national security missions, commercial space development, and terrestrial applications. New system configurations that substantially reduce SSP technical and economic risk, remarkable improvements in solar-po wer generation technologies, and significant advancements in structural, ro botic, power management, and materials technologies have been identified. T he major barrier to eventual implementation of terrestrial power delivery f rom space, as with all large space systems, is the lack of a national commi tment to develop a viable path to low-cost, reliable space transportation.