Value chain · CLM-1442
In plain terms
A 2021 study for the UK government shows one design, CASSIOPeiA, as about 1.7 km across and 2,000 tonnes, sending 2 gigawatts to the grid from 35,786 km up. Its scale drawing puts it beside the world's tallest building, the 830 m Burj Khalifa, and the satellite is about twice that height. It is a design, not a built satellite.
The claim as recorded
Frazer-Nash's 2021 executive summary, in its "Solar Power Satellite - Overview" graphic, describes the "CASSIOPeiA Solar Power Satellite concept (International Electric)" as "2,000 tonnes", "1,700m diameter" and in "Geosynchronous Orbit - 35,786km". A scale bar marked "Scale (approx)" draws it at "1700m" beside the ISS at "110m" ("Largest man-made satellite"), the Eiffel tower at "300m" and the Burj Khalifa at "830m" ("Tallest building in the world"), with the label "CASSIOPeiA Concept for Solar Power Satellite to input 2GW power into the grid". On these figures the satellite is about twice the height of the Burj Khalifa (1,700 / 830 = 2.05) and about 15 times the size of the ISS (1,700 / 110 = 15.5).
Evidence behind this: T4, the executive summary of a consultancy study commissioned by the UK government (BEIS); an overview infographic with no derivation on the page.
Scope and limits
An overview graphic, not an analysis: the page gives no derivation, does not say whether 2,000 tonnes is dry mass, and does not say in words which dimension "diameter" is (a diagram on the next page draws 1700m across the helix, CLM-1441); the drawing is marked approximate. The 1700m line marks the satellite's extent across its axis; its length along the axis with mirrors is not given. "Tallest building in the world" is the page's 2021 statement. The two multiples are our arithmetic. The rectenna, beam and 2 GW figures on the same page are in CLM-0003. How this size compares with other documents is in CLM-1441.
What it assumes
No assumptions are recorded against this claim.
Where it comes from
PDF p.15, zoom 5 crop of the bullets under "1. Solar power satellite": "2,000 tonnes", "1,700m diameter", "Geosynchronous Orbit - 35,786km", "CASSIOPeiA Solar Power Satellite concept (International Electric)". Zoom 4 crop of the scale bar: title "Scale (approx)"; axis marks 500m, 1,000m and 1,500m; bars "110m" ISS "Largest man-made satellite", "300m" "Eiffel tower", "830m" "Burj Khalifa" "Tallest building in the world", "1700m" "CASSIOPeiA Concept for Solar Power Satellite to input 2GW power into the grid".
Basis: tonnes; metres
Cite this
energyaperture.com/c/clm-1442
CLM-1442, Energy Aperture, as of 2021-09.
Connected records
Other published records linked to this one. A list, not a judgement.
- Also from SRC-023
- CLM-0002The summary report says the beam is strongest at the middle of the receiving site, at about 240 watts per square metre, and argues that...CLM-0003The report gives the receiving site as an ellipse roughly 7 km by 13 km, and states a beam strength of 245 watts per square metre.CLM-0005A second figure of 29 watts per square metre appears in the same report, but it measures electricity produced per unit of land, not beam...CLM-0006None of the five main studies mentions the international radio-frequency exposure limits, or any safety standard, or a restricted area...CLM-1436A UK study says that one space solar power system would typically deliver about 2 gigawatts to the grid, and it compares this with the...CLM-1441Documents give the size of the CASSIOPeiA satellite design as anything from 1 to 2 km across. For a full-size version delivering 2...CLM-1443The 2021 study for the UK government says the leading designs need no new materials, but that building them at a sensible cost needs two...CLM-1444The 2021 study for the UK government concluded that space-based solar power is technically feasible, affordable at a competitive cost per...More on the source page.
- Cited in articles