For the first time in decades, Congress seems interested in space-based solar power
Enlarge / A photo taken of the first space-borne prototype from Caltech's Space Solar Power Project. (credit: SSPP)
As far as legislative moments go, the passage of a minor amendment to an innocuous US House resolution on Wednesday was not exactly groundbreaking. But for space exploration enthusiasts, the amendment offered by US Rep. Kevin Mullin, D-Calif., was kind of a big deal.
That's because, for the first time since the 1970s, the idea of space-based solar power has been addressed legislatively by the US Congress.
"Although the technology to gather solar energy in space and send it to the surface as electricity is not yet commercially viable at scale, we already know from early research that it is possible," Mullin said during a meeting of the Science, Space, and Technology Committee on Wednesday.