Value chain · CLM-0513
In plain terms
The most credible real, flown demonstration of space-based wireless power transmission achieved milliwatts of power over centimetres inside a single small satellite, at a little over half its own predicted efficiency, and its own scientists do not attempt to say what this means for a full-scale power station.
The claim as recorded
Caltech's MAPLE experiment, flown on a CubeSat in LEO from January 2023 for ten months, independent of CASSIOPeiA, measured an end-to-end DC-to-DC link efficiency of only 3.37-3.66% for its intra-spacecraft wireless power transmission (231-251 milliwatts rectified), against an expected 6.26% calculated from individually measured component efficiencies, a shortfall the authors attribute, in part, to possible degraded PA efficiency, nonlinear phase rotator coupling, antenna mismatch or added RF line losses (SRC-077 PDF p.8, printed p.233); a separate long-term benchmark comparison found a 14.7% mean power decline, which the authors trace to degradation in three stacks rather than chip-wide degradation (PDF p.11, printed p.236); no mass or specific-power figure for the flight hardware is stated, and the authors decline to extrapolate to gigawatt scale.
Scope and limits
Intra-spacecraft demonstration (largest array dimension 14.4cm), not point-to-point transmission across any meaningful distance; a separate Earth-directed detection (three passes, 2023) confirmed signal arrival but not power delivery, since the ground station was never within the array's -3 dB contour (SRC-077 p.238); the signal reached up to 20 dB above the ground station's noise floor (p.241).
What it assumes
No assumptions are recorded against this claim.
Where it comes from
(Ayling et al. 2024, Acta Astronautica 224, 226-243): link efficiencies and the 6.26% expectation at PDF p.8 (printed p.233), equation (1) at PDF p.5 (printed p.230); the 14.7% decline at PDF p.11 (printed p.236); mission dates at PDF p.7 (printed p.232); Earth-directed passes at PDF p.12-13 (printed p.237-238). Originally drawn from a fork extraction report, 2026-09-03.
Basis: measured DC-to-DC link efficiency, milliwatt scale, LEO
Related records
- Answers question
- QST-002 not published in this release
Cite this
energyaperture.com/c/clm-0513
CLM-0513, Energy Aperture, as of 2023 (mission); 2024 (publication).
Connected records
Other published records linked to this one. A list, not a judgement.