#Radiant defense mission 11 driver#

“This report concludes that the United States and China are in a long-term competition in space in which China is attempting to become a global power, in part, through the use of space. “The rise of China’s space program presents military, economic, and political challenges to the United States,” says a September study by Air University’s China Aerospace Studies Institute and CNA.

#Radiant defense mission 11 driver#

These concerns are the primary driver behind growing interest within the Space Force on expanding its situational awareness to cislunar space - and CHPS is the first effort to build such capabilities.

China last January became the first country to land a rover on the far side of the Moon, and to pioneer a relay satellite system in lunar orbit to allow communications with it. by 2030: Plans for a 300-ton MW-level space-based solar power station”Īs Breaking D readers know, military space leaders over the past year also have been gradually turning up the volume on concerns about China’s long-term lunar exploration plans.

by 2025: Demonstration of a 100 KW system in LEO.

2019: Establishment of the first state-funded prototype SPS program.

China’s SPS strategy is dual use-military and civil,” the Aerospace paper asserts. “China intends to become a global SPS leader and views SPS as a strategic imperative to shift from fossil based energy and foreign oil dependence. That may be changing, however, due to China’s ambitious plans to pioneer its use. Up to now, the US has made little progress on making space-based solar power a reality “because the technology is challenging and efforts to develop it have been inconsistent and minimally funded,” Vedda and Jones say. The module was developed by the Naval Research Laboratory. For example, besides SSPIDR, the mysterious X-37B space plane which launched on its sixth mission May 17 carried an experimental payload, called the Photovoltaic Radio-frequency Antenna Module (PRAM), designed to test converting solar radiation to microwave radiation. SPS systems could become one possible solution to address that demand.”ĭoD has shown sporadic interest in the concept for decades, funding a variety of studies, basic research and experiments. “Projections for the growth of cislunar activity point to commensurate growth in demand for power, and some installations could require power levels in the multi-megawatt range, far higher than any power system deployed in space thus far. The cost of that power is high, and the systems to produce it are a substantial portion of the mass of the spacecraft,” the paper, called “Space-Based Solar Power: A Near-Term Investment Decision,” elaborates. “On-board solar arrays have powered spacecraft ranging in size from a couple of kilograms to the approximately 400,000-kilogram International Space Station, which produces over 100 kilowatts of power. Space-based solar power beaming, AFRL graphic