“The Federal Communications Commission has approved a test flight of a satellite designed to reflect sunlight to the dark side of the Earth, potentially useful for harvesting solar energy at night or simply illuminating an area without the need for electric lighting. The prototype satellite, Eärendil-1, is equipped with a 60-foot mirror that can light up a three-mile-wide circle on the Earth’s surface,” reports The Doomslayer.
The New York Times explains:
The federal government has approved plans by a start-up company to test a satellite that would use a 60-foot mirror to reflect sunlight back to Earth after dark, as part of a project the company says would power solar farms, provide light for rescue workers and illuminate city streets.
In a license issued on Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission gave the green light for Reflect Orbital of Hawthorne, Calif., to launch its Eärendil-1 satellite into low Earth orbit. The company plans to deploy its test satellite this year but has said it eventually wants to send as many as 50,000 big mirrors into space.
Earlier, a startup called Overview Energy “completed a major engineering milestone for space-based solar power, successfully beaming energy from a moving aircraft to a ground receiver. The company plans to use the same method and similar hardware to transmit power from satellites in orbit.”
Space News notes that “Space-based solar power offers the potential of providing vast amounts of power without the limitations of terrestrial solar power, which is unavailable at night or in cloudy conditions, and without the environmental impacts of many other energy sources.” This month, Overview Energy demonstrated a “key technology for its plans to transmit power from space to the Earth.” The company
successfully tested a system that transmitted power using a near-infrared laser from an aircraft flying at an altitude of 5,000 meters to a receiver on the ground. The test involved transmitting “multiple thousands of watts” of power from the aircraft to a receiver on the ground, where it was converted into electricity…Overview Energy is one of the latest efforts to realize a decades-old vision of generating electricity by collecting solar power in space and transmitting it to Earth.
Satellite internet could boost health services across Africa. Internet usage has more than doubled in Africa, making mobile payments, online learning, and more economic activity possible.
Kenyan farmers are using artificial intelligence to grow more food. Kenya plans to build its first nuclear power plant. Drones are being used to fight malaria and save lives in western Kenya.
Internet access is now feasible even in the more remote places on Earth, via satellite.
