Value chain · CLM-0018
In plain terms
The most recent UK government report calls 230 watts per square metre a limit to be reached because it lowers cost, and cites an earlier report by the same consultancy as the reason for using it.
The claim as recorded
The 2025 UK government report RAF036/2425 describes 230 W/m2 as a power intensity limit that a 2033 system "should be able to reach", presenting it as an economic target, and sources it to Frazer-Nash's own earlier SBSP Engineering Feasibility Report.
Scope and limits
Consultancy report co-authored by Frazer-Nash, Space Solar Engineering Ltd and Imperial College London, for a UK government competition. Advocate-adjacent, and the citation is to the same consultancy's own prior work.
What it assumes
No assumptions are recorded against this claim.
Where it comes from
Verbatim, p29: "In 2033, a larger system is planned to launch, providing 150 MW of power from the same HEO orbit. This system should be able to reach the 230 W/m2 power intensity limit, reducing the cost of capturing a given quantum of energy." Footnote 31, verbatim: "An intensity limit of 230 W/m2 is assumed in line with Frazer-Nash's SBSP Engineering Feasibility Report".
Related records
- Answers question
- QST-001 not published in this releaseQST-005 not published in this release
- Contradicts
- CLM-0048 An international scientific body reviewed the proposed figures, found them ranging from 230 to...CLM-0060 In 1981 a NASA review panel said the 230 watts per square metre figure rested on an obsolete...CLM-0063 NASA suggested in 1981 that 550 to 600 watts per square metre might be reasonable, roughly two...CLM-0073 not published in this releaseCLM-0074 not published in this release
Cite this
energyaperture.com/c/clm-0018
CLM-0018, Energy Aperture, as of 2025.
Connected records
Other published records linked to this one. A list, not a judgement.
- Also from SRC-076
- CLM-0019The report sets out Space Solar's plan: a small in-orbit test, then 31 megawatts in 2030, 150 megawatts in 2033, and 650 megawatts in...CLM-0152Two UK industry planning documents, from 2022 and 2025, each state a beam-intensity design figure in the 230-245 watts-per-square-metre...CLM-0213The study assumes that connecting a ground receiving site to the electricity grid costs about GBP 150,000 for every megawatt of power the...CLM-0214Six different solar-power-satellite designs each claim that turning the electricity collected on the ground into grid-ready power is 90 to...CLM-0215Any UK ground receiving station that wants to connect to the electricity grid must be able to supply or absorb a type of power called...CLM-0216The UK's fast-response grid support services need a generator to react within seconds, at any moment over a 4-hour period. A ground...CLM-0503Under the international radio rules as revised at the 2023 world radio conference, there is no radio-frequency allocation for beaming power...CLM-0517Every date in the plan -- the ground demo (2026), the demo mission (2027-28), 2030, 2033 and 2036 -- is a hope, not a booking, and the...More on the source page.
- Contradicted by
- CLM-0048An international scientific body reviewed the proposed figures, found them ranging from 230 to 1,000 watts per square metre, and chose 300...CLM-0060In 1981 a NASA review panel said the 230 watts per square metre figure rested on an obsolete theory with no experimental support, and made...CLM-0063NASA suggested in 1981 that 550 to 600 watts per square metre might be reasonable, roughly two and a half times the figure still in use...