China building an orbital power station

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capable of generating MORE ENERGY in ONE YEAR than ALL THE OIL ON EARTH

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no they are not

We should frick with it

That's going to be a really long wire needed to get that power down to earth.

You miss the part where they quoted the level of energy expected from it?

No fricking way it is that much between inefficiencies of solar and transmission issues between the satellite and Earth.

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That's going to be a really long wire needed to get that power down to earth.

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It's for space ambitions and lunar missions.

"China is actively developing and constructing a space-based solar power station, often referred to as an orbital power station, which would collect solar energy in geostationary orbit and beam it back to Earth via microwaves. Work on the project began in 2019 in Chongqing, with the China Academy of Space Technology leading efforts to assemble a 1-kilometer-wide solar array about 36,000 km above Earth. This initiative is described as the "Manhattan Project of the energy sector" due to its scale and potential to generate continuous power—up to 10 times more efficiently than ground-based solar—unaffected by weather, night, or seasons. Key milestones include:A prototype launch into low Earth orbit by 2028.
A 1-megawatt station operational in geostationary orbit by 2030.
A full commercial-scale plant generating 2 gigawatts by 2050, potentially producing as much energy annually as all extractable oil on Earth.

The project builds on earlier tests, including stratospheric prototypes planned for 2021–2025, and aligns with China's broader space ambitions, such as lunar research stations. While challenges like assembly in orbit and wireless transmission remain, recent 2025 announcements confirm steady progress."

It says they would convert the energy to microwaves and shoot it to a receiver station. Not sure the technology is even close to existing to do something like that.

Just curious. Is it the same principle by which my car can charge my phone simply by setting it on a pad in the center console?

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Would be nice if we could do this.

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We already have directed energy weapons.

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Its possible.


We’ve been testing a system to do that and are about to do our own orbital power.

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In large part, the idea was shutdown out of fear that beaming microwave power from space could also be very nasty weapon.

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They aren't building an orbital power station?

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Will eventually be proven to be vaporware, like all of China's claims of technological breakthroughs.