Space Solar

Space Solar is a UK-based space-based solar power (SBSP) development company founded in 2022 and headquartered in Didcot, Oxfordshire, pursuing one of the most technically ambitious energy concepts: orbital solar power stations that collect sunlight continuously in geostationary orbit and beam energy wirelessly to Earth's surface using microwave or laser transmission. Space Solar targets an operational satellite power plant by 2030, with intermediate demonstration milestones in the late 2020s.

The SBSP concept is compelling for energy transition: GEO satellites experience sunlight 24 hours per day (eclipsed only during brief equinox periods), eliminating the intermittency problem of terrestrial solar (which averages roughly 15–25% capacity factor due to night, clouds, and seasons). A single GEO SBSP platform of sufficient scale could theoretically beam multiple gigawatts of power to a rectenna on the ground. The received microwave energy density at Earth's surface would be lower than safe human exposure limits and far lower than direct sunlight — but the persistent power delivery matches baseload demand in a way no terrestrial renewable can.

Space Solar's technical approach uses lightweight deployable photovoltaic arrays and phased-array microwave transmitters assembled in orbit, with power beamed at approximately 2.45 GHz to ground receiving stations (rectennas) that convert the microwave energy to DC electricity. The company has partnered with Transition Labs, an Iceland-based clean energy development firm, to provide renewable electricity to Reykjavik Energy — a natural first customer given Iceland's decarbonization goals and its high-latitude position (which reduces GEO SBSP geometry efficiency somewhat but makes the marketing narrative compelling).

Space Solar's primary technical and business challenges are enormous: launching and assembling hundreds of thousands of square meters of photovoltaic arrays in GEO requires either radically cheaper launch costs or in-space assembly capabilities not yet demonstrated at commercial scale. The UK government has commissioned studies on SBSP feasibility, and the European Space Agency's SOLARIS initiative is building an R&D roadmap. Space Solar competes conceptually with Virtus Solis, Caltech's MAPLE demonstration (first wirelessly transmitted power from orbit to Earth in 2023), and Overview Energy in the nascent SBSP market.