Japan is trying to create electricity in space using the power of the Sun and then send it back to Earth right from there. But how will that happen since you cannot have wires dangling from space to Earth? It will be in the form of microwaves, which will be sent wirelessly, like an energy beam and would be caught by antennas.

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While this might sound too unreal, everything is already in place to accomplish the mission. Japan will launch a 400-pound satellite with a 22-square-foot (2 square meters) solar panel into low Earth orbit soon. The panel will collect sunlight and use it to charge an onboard battery.

Space.com quoted Koichi Ijichi, one of the researchers, as saying, “It will be a small satellite, about 180 kilograms [400 pounds], that will transmit about 1 kilowatt of power from an altitude of 400 kilometres." Koichi is also an advisor at Japan Space Systems (JSS).

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The project has been named OHISAMA, which means Sun in Japanese. The satellite launch does not have an exact date yet, but reports suggest this could happen anytime after April.

Energy will be sent to Earth wirelessly

The coolest part about the project is the transmission of electricity to Earth. With regular solar panels, energy is converted into electricity and transmitted through wires. However, that is not a possibility when sending power from space. The satellite will turn electricity into microwaves and transmit it wirelessly in the form of an energy beam. An antenna designed specially for this task will catch it. 

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The satellite will move at a speed of 28,000 kilometres per hour, which means that to catch the waves, an antenna running several kilometres is needed. However, right now the aim is to know the feasibility of this method, so a smaller antenna would be enough. Thirteen receivers spread over a 600-square-meter area in Suwa have been prepared to receive power.

Ramifications of the technology

The energy sent would only be enough to run a dishwasher for an hour, but if it works, then the technique could be utilised to produce more clean energy by making use of the sun in space.

This is not the first time the sun's energy has been reaped in space. In May 2020, the US Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) launched the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle, which successfully converted solar energy into microwave energy in space and wirelessly transmitted it back to Earth.

Meanwhile, NASA does not think this will work since the costs associated with it are huge. It is estimated that the method would cost 61 cents per kilowatt-hour, while right now, solar and wind energy on Earth cost 5 cents per kilowatt-hour.