The prototype is being launched on a SpaceX rocket currently slated for liftoff on Jan. 3 from Cape Canaveral.
PASADENA — Scientists at Caltech are launching a Space Solar Power Demonstrator prototype into orbit Tuesday as part of an ambitious effort to harvest solar power in space and beam that energy back to Earth, university officials in Pasadena said on Monday, Jan. 2.
When fully realized, the project could make what was once considered science fiction a reality, researchers said. Caltech’s Space Solar Power Project got its start after philanthropist Donald Bren, chairman of Irvine Company and a lifetime member of the Caltech Board of Trustees, learned about the potential for space-based solar energy manufacturing in an article in Popular Science magazine. In 2013, Bren and his wife, Brigitte, a Caltech trustee, agreed to donate the funds for the project through the Donald Bren Foundation.
The rocket will take approximately 10 minutes to reach its desired altitude, with the prototype then to be deployed from it into orbit, according to Caltech. The Caltech team on Earth plans to start running their experiments within a few weeks of the launch and testing and data collection are expected to continue for several months.
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