News flash
Long Lehao, a prominent Chinese rocket scientist, has announced plans to build a large solar PV system in space. Reported last week in the South China Morning Post and dubbed another Three Gorges Dam project above the Earth”, the project involves a 1km wide solar array in geostationary orbit.
“We are working on this project now. It is as significant as moving the Three Gorges Dam to a geostationary orbit 36,000km (22,370 miles) above the Earth. This is an incredible project to look forward to,” said Mr Long. “The energy collected in one year would be equivalent to the total amount of oil that can be extracted from the Earth,” added Long.
The project’s scale requires the development and deployment of super heavy rockets which means China’s space technology capabilities will have to take massive jumps in the coming years. The Long March-9 (CZ-9), a reusable heavy-lift rocket developed by Mr Long’s team is being touted as the launch vehicle for the project.
No further details on technology were provided.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
