China prepares ground recipient system for space-based solar power station

中国天基太阳能电站的地面接收系统

The ground recipient verification system of China's space-based solar power station Photo: Weibo account of the Xidian University

中国天基太阳能电站地面接收验证系统图片援引自西安电子科技大学微博账号

China's building of its space-based solar power station (SSPS) has achieved a new milestone, as a research team with Xidian University announced recently that the ground recipient verification system has passed examination, proving breakthroughs in key technology.

近日，西安电子科技大学的一个研究团队表示，中国天基太阳能电站(SSPS)地面接收验证系统已通过测试，并在核心技术领域取得突破。这表明中国天基太阳能电站(SSPS)的建设达到了一个新的里程碑。

The ground verification system of the program codenamed Zhuri, or chasing the sun, which according to the Xi'an-based university, is the world's first of its kind for a full-chain, full-system SSPS, successfully passed examinations on June 5, making breakthroughs in multiple key technologies including high-efficiency light concentrating and photoelectric conversion, microwave conversion, microwave emission and waveform optimization, microwave beam pointing measurement and control, microwave reception and rectification, and smart mechanical structure design.

据西安大学介绍，项目代号为“追日”的地面验证系统是世界上首个全链、全系统天基太阳能电站。6月5日，该地面验证系统顺利通过测试，并在高效聚光与光电转换、微波转换、微波发射与波形优化、微波波束指向测控、微波接收与整流、智能机械结构设计等多项关键技术领域取得突破。

An expert panel led by Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) academician Wu Yirong attended the on-site review on June 5 and they commented that such outcome denotes a world-leading advancement and it lays the ground for China's development of next-generation microwave power wireless transmission technology and space-based solar power plant technology. These new technologies present broad application prospects, according to a comment released by the university in on Tuesday.

6月5日，由中国科学院院士吴一戎领导的专家小组参与了该地面验证系统测试的现场评审。他们认为，这一成果是世界前沿的一大进步，为中国发展下一代微波功率无线传输技术和天基太阳能电站技术奠定了基础。根据西安电子科技大学周二发布的评论，这些新技术拥有广阔的应用前景。

The ground verification system is located in the southern campus of Xidian University. The supportive tower of the system is a 75 meter-high steel structure, and has five subsystems: Omega concentration and light-electricity conversion, power transmission and management, and a receiving antenna.

该地面验证系统坐落于西安电子科技大学南校区，其支撑塔是一个75米高的钢型结构，包括五个子系统，分别是欧米茄浓缩与光电转换、电力传输与管理、接收天线。

The working principle is to first determine the angle that the condenser needs to be tilted toward according to the position of the sun. After receiving the sunlight reflected by the condenser, the photovoltaic cell array located in the center of the condenser converts it into direct current electricity. Then, through the power management module, the electric power is converted by the four concentrating systems and channeled toward the intermediate transmitting antenna.

其工作原理如下：首先，依据太阳的位置确定电容器需要向其倾斜的角度。其次，位于电容器中央的光伏电池阵列接收到电容器器反射的太阳光后，将其转化为直流电。然后，通过功率管理模块，将电功率由四个集中系统进行转换，并引导到中间发射天线。

The electric energy is further converted into microwaves and transmitted to the receiving antenna in the form of wireless transmissions, before the receiving antenna converts the microwave rectification into direct current again, which is supplied to the load.

电能被进一步转换成微波并以无线传输的形式传输到接收天线，然后接收天线再次将微波整流转换成直流电流，并提供给负载。

China's research and development of its own space-based power station accelerated since a proposal obtained state approval in 2013 and more than 130 Chinese experts organized by 16 state departments and agencies including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Science and Technology, spent a year conducting a feasibility study in 2014.

自2013年获批以来，中国加快了对本国天基电站的研发。包括工业和信息化部、国家发改委和科技部在内的16个国家部门和机构组织的130多名中国专家在2014年花了一年时间进行可行性研究。

Around the same period, Duan Baoyan, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and his research team with Xidian University rolled out a design for the OMEGA space-based solar power station, which compared to the US ALPHA plan, is easier to control and has less pressure over heat dissipation and 24 percent more efficient in terms of power-to-mass ratio (electricity generated by the unit mass of the space system).

大约在同一时期，中国工程院院士段宝岩和他在西安电子科技大学的研究团队推出了欧米茄（OMEGA）天基太阳能电站的设计方案。这一方案与美国阿尔法计划（ALPHA plan) 相比，更容易控制，散热压力更小，就功率质量比（空间系统单位质量产生的电）而言，效率提高了24%。

For example, the UK envisioned that it could have a demonstrator in orbit by 2035, as more than 50 British organizations, including heavyweights such as aerospace manufacturer Airbus, Cambridge University and satellite maker SSTL, joined the UK Space Energy Initiative launched in 2021, which "has established a 12-year development plan that could see a demonstrator power plant, assembled by robots in orbit, beam gigawatts of power from space to Earth as early as 2035," according the initiative's chairman Martin Soltau on April 27.

例如，英国设想到2035年可以拥有一台在轨演示器。这是因为，航空航天制造商空客（Airbus)、剑桥大学(Cambridge University)和卫星制造商SSTL等重量级企业在内的50多个英国组织加入了2021年发起的英国空间能源倡议（UK Space Energy Initiative）。该倡议的主席马丁·索尔托（Martin Soltau）在4月27日表示，“建立了一个12年的发展计划，最早可以在2035年看到一个由轨道上的机器人组装的演示器发电厂，将千兆瓦的电力从太空输送到地球”。

Offsetting the challenges of the use of solar power on Earth's ground such as rainy and cloudy weather, and the day and night change, building a solar power station in space, to be exact, in the Geosynchronous orbit, could provide power efficiency 35 times better than that of photovoltaic power stations on Earth, Pang Zhihao, a senior space expert based in Beijing, told the Global Times on Thursday.

周四，北京资深太空专家庞之浩告诉《环球时报》（the Global Times ），为了克服在地球地面使用太阳能所面临的例如雨天和阴天，以及昼夜变化等挑战，在太空，准确地说，是在地球同步轨道上建造一座太阳能电站，其发电效率可以比地球上的光伏电站高35倍。

The application prospects could be enormously broad, according to Pang. "For instance, during the Spring Festival travel rush, many can power their electronic vehicles anywhere and anytime without being worried that they cannot find charging stations on the road."

庞之浩表示，建造太阳能电站的应用前景非常广阔。“例如，春运期间，随时随地为电子汽车充电，而不必担心在路上找不到充电站。”

China could build an experimental space solar power station by 2030, and construct a commercially viable space power station by 2050, the China News Weekly reported in 2021, citing a roadmap approved in 2014.

《中国新闻周刊》（the China News Weekly）2021年援引2014年批准的路线图报道称，中国预计在2030年前建造一个实验性空间太阳能发电站，并在2050年前建造一个商业可行的空间发电站。

And in a latest update, the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST), the country's main state-owned spacecraft maker, plans to conduct a "Space high voltage transfer and wireless power transmission experiment" in low Earth orbit in 2028.

该报刊的最新报道称，中国国有航天器制造商巨头——中国空间技术研究院(CAST)计划于2028年在近地轨道上进行“空间高压转移和无线电能传输实验”。

The satellite will be capable of generating 10 kilowatts and carry a solar cell array, microwave transmitting antenna, a low power laser transmission payload, a transmitting array and test power transmission across distances of 400 kilometers from orbit.

拥有太阳能电池阵列、微波发射天线、低功率激光发射有效载荷、发射阵列和测试距离轨道400公里的电力传输， 这颗卫星能够发电10千瓦。

The update to CAST's plans appears in the paper "Retro-directive microwave power beam steering technology of space solar power station," published in the journal China Space Science and Technology on June 2.

6月2 日，发表在《中国空间科学与技术》（China Space Science and Technology）杂志上的一篇名为《空间太阳能电站的反向微波功率波束转向技术》的文章中提到了中国空间技术研究院(CAST)计划的最新内容。