Value chain · CLM-1263
In plain terms
In 2003 ESA planned a two-year set of paper studies to help its member countries decide whether space solar power was worth pursuing. The plan aimed to compare it fairly with solar power on the ground and to pick a few demonstration missions to study, not to fund hardware.
The claim as recorded
In July 2003 ESA set out a 2003-2005 study programme on solar power from space whose stated objective was to give the Agency and its Member States material to evaluate solar power satellites and to formulate a European strategy, not to build a system. The plan covers the "timeframe 2003-2005" (p.3) and states its overall objective as to "produce support material for the Agency and its Member States" for evaluating SPS and formulating a European strategy (p.6). It lists nine goals (p.6, paraphrase): an objective comparison of space and ground solar power; synergies between them; the role of SPS for space exploration; one to three promising SPS concepts; the technical areas needing research; two to three feasibility studies for near-term demonstrator missions; ways to fit SPS into a hydrogen-based economy; focus and coordination for European SPS research; and openings for international cooperation. The end product was to be a consolidated document stating the European strategy, serving as a "decision basis for further activities" (p.14).
Evidence behind this: The agency's own programme plan: what ESA set out to study and why, as of July 2003; not evidence of what was done or funded.
Scope and limits
A PLAN, NOT AN OUTCOME. The document states no budget, in any currency, for the programme or for any study. Who funded it, and how much, is not on any page. Whether the studies were contracted, completed or led to a strategy document is not shown here, and no held record says so. The plan calls itself a "living" document to be updated as work progresses (p.3, paraphrase), so later issues may differ. A funder position here is the agency's own stance on studying SPS, not a commitment to build it.
What it assumes
No assumptions are recorded against this claim.
Where it comes from
p.3: the plan covers the "timeframe 2003-2005" and guides all studies under the programme (paraphrase except the quoted span). p.6 (section 1.3): nine overall goals (paraphrase). p.6 (section 1.4): the objective is to "produce support material for the Agency and its Member States" to evaluate SPS and formulate a European strategy in the light of sustainable development (paraphrase except the quoted span). p.14: at the end of phase III the studies are to be assembled into a consolidated European strategy document as a "decision basis for further activities".
Basis: stated goals and objective of a planned study programme; no currency figure stated
Related records
- Answers question
- QST-030 not published in this release
Cite this
energyaperture.com/c/clm-1263
CLM-1263, Energy Aperture, as of 2003-07-08.
Connected records
Other published records linked to this one. A list, not a judgement.
- Also from SRC-638
- CLM-1264The plan had three steps. First, check whether space solar makes sense against ground solar, what the law allows, and whether it could...CLM-1265ESA planned to finish the whole set of studies in under two years, roughly 2003 to 2005, with the three steps taking about six, six and...CLM-1266ESA set up a small expert advisory group and its in-house futures team to steer the studies. It also linked the work to a wider European...CLM-1267ESA also wanted to know whether beaming solar power from a satellite could power Mars and Moon bases or distant probes, because Europe had...CLM-1268In 2003 ESA's own rough internal sums suggested space solar and comparable ground solar would cost about the same, to within a factor of...