An inexhaustible solar power station in space? China may get one by 2028

China is planning to launch a solar power plant in space for getting inexhaustible power in 2028, two years ahead of the original schedule, a Chinese daily reported. 

Earlier, China aimed to establish a 1 megawatt solar power station in space by 2030. Now, as per the updated plan, China will launch a satellite in 2028 to test wireless power transmission technology from space to the ground from an altitude of 400km, reported the South China Morning Post quoting science journal Chinese Space Science and Technology.

The satellite would convert solar energy to microwaves or lasers, said the researchers, and added that the energy beams would then be directed to various targets, including fixed locations on Earth and moving satellites.

The solar power plant will 10 kilowatts, enough to meet the needs of a few households, the Chinese daily reported. 

A 33-acre testing facility is being built in Chongqing's Bishan district and it will be used to theoretical viability of a space-based solar power station. The facility will develop space transmission technologies while studying the effect of microwaves beamed back to Earth on living organisms, said Xie Gengxin, deputy head of the Chongqing Collaborative Innovation Research Institute for Civil-Military Integration in Southwestern China, quoted Forbes. 

In the journal, Professor Dong Shiwei with the National Key Laboratory of Science and Technology on Space Microwave under the China Academy of Space Technology in Xian noted that the technology could be scaled up significantly and become "an effective contributor to reaching carbon peak and neutrality goals".

The plan was first drafted in 2014, Dong said, adding that technological advances and potential military applications may have renewed government interest.