Planning is advancing to create the world’s first solar energy station in space, capturing the sun’s rays 24 hours a day and providing the planet with a clean power source.
The futuristic project, which if successful could have a major impact on combating climate change, is being developed by British firm Space Solar, with financial support from Saudi Arabia.
Within six years, Space Solar aims to have a trial project providing six megawatts of power from low Earth orbit, eventually leading to a two-gigawatt power station in high geostationary orbit by 2035.
Sam Adlen, joint chief executive of Space Solar, welcomed the collaboration.
“There’s a real partnership to be developed that can have a huge impact on the future of net zero, energy security and help create an era-defining, new energy source,” he said. "Space-based solar power is the ultimate form of clean, dependable energy and our vision is for clean, affordable energy from space."
With the race for cosmic energy potentially highly lucrative, UK Business Secretary Grant Shapps suggested that “collaboration in space” could “unlock significant commercial opportunities”.
He travelled to Saudi Arabia last week to meet Abdullah Al Swaha, Minister of Communications and chairman of the Saudi Space Commission.
Science fact
For almost a century, the idea of using sonar panels in space to beam electricity down to Earth has largely been in the imagination, with Isaac Asimov writing a short story on the idea in 1941 before a more serious proposal in the 1960s.
Fantasy is now turning into reality.
“This has been science fiction for decades,” space systems architect Matt O’Donnell told The National.
“The calculations around the physics involved with the distances does require very, very large structures in space, building something that's truly enormous, the largest structure ever built by mankind.”
Viable space
Once the technology is developed and tested with smaller models, the power stations in space would cost the equivalent of a nuclear plant to build — about $10 billion — with a similar output of two gigawatts, enough to power more than 1.5 million homes.
With 5km-wide solar panels and at several times the size of the International Space Station, the structure would have to be assembled in space, with parts sent up via numerous rocket launches.
But that is becoming more financially viable, with the returnable rockets of SpaceX missions bringing down the costs.
A British government study has already concluded that space-based solar energy is viable. Another report from Nasa on the subject will be released later this year.
“That makes it look like a believable concept to the energy people who have got massive contracts to build and run enormous terrestrial power stations safe and well,” said Mr O’Donnell, of the global aerospace firm Airbus.
“With the gradual reduction in launch prices and hardware costs and improvements in putting robotics into space, the feeling is that with those three things we're on the cusp, where it could become technologically and economically viable within the next decade, but in order to get to that point we need to start now.”
Space Solar, based near Oxford, also argued that the government studies confirmed that the space energy is now technically viable and economically competitive with other renewables.
“It has low environmental impact, in land usage, carbon footprint and mineral resources,” its website stated. “The technology is highly flexible and can export energy to other co-operating nations without expensive fixed infrastructure such as underwater power cables. It can be switched rapidly to power hydrogen generation or water desalination plants, as well as providing electricity into the grid.”
How it works
Space Solar says the system comprises a kilometre-scale satellite in a high Earth orbit. It features lightweight solar panels and a system of mirrors to concentrate sunlight on to the panels.
The electricity generated is converted into high-frequency radio waves and the power is beamed to a receiving antenna at a fixed point on the ground below.
A ground receiver would likely be the North Sea, but it could also be in the futuristic city of Neom, the metropolis in north-west Saudi Arabia that will be entirely powered by carbon-free electricity.
The spacecraft’s solar array could easily be redirected from the North Sea to Neom.
Doubling demand
With the Earth’s population expected to exceed 10 billion by 2050 — the date set for net zero in global carbon emissions — the demands for clean energy are going to be immense.
One calculation suggests that Britain alone will need a 2km-wide belt of wind farms around its entire coastline to supply clean energy for its 68 million population.
With at least three billion people in the developing world requiring clean energy rather than fossil fuels — and that population is set to grow — the demand for energy globally will be extremely high.
“They could double especially with increased movement of population into cities and with the rest of the world needing access to good, clean energy,” said Mr O’Donnell.
“We can't do this with the existing technologies at sufficient scale, so all the ideas need to be on the table, including nuclear, more battery storage and the potential for space-based solar power.”
Airbus interest
Airbus, which manufactures nearly all the world’s aircraft wings as well as commercial and military satellites, has a keen interest in the project.
“We think it's important for building sustainable societies and the use of space to support the climate,” said its space expert Mr O’Donnell.
“Delivering power from space to replace fossil fuels is a novel way of making a direct contribution. Also, Airbus, as a system-of-systems integrator, understands how supply chains and management of complex things work that have safety of life implications.”
He added that with continued development in the wider world, billions of people “are going to want more energy and they should be given clean energy from the start”.
SaxaVord spaceport — in pictures
List of UAE medal winners
Gold
Faisal Al Ketbi (Open weight and 94kg)
Talib Al Kirbi (69kg)
Omar Al Fadhli (56kg)
Silver
Zayed Al Kaabi (94kg)
Khalfan Belhol (85kg)
Zayed Al Mansoori (62kg)
Mouza Al Shamsi (49kg women)
Bronze
Yahia Mansour Al Hammadi (Open and 94kg)
Saood Al Hammadi (77kg)
Said Al Mazroui (62kg)
Obaid Al Nuaimi (56kg)
Bashayer Al Matrooshi (62kg women)
Reem Abdulkareem (45kg women)
Results
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,600m; Winner: Aahid Al Khalediah II, Pat Cosgrave (jockey), Helal Al Alawi (trainer)
5.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: Whistle, Harry Bentley, Abdallah Al Hammadi
6pm: Wathba Stallions Cup - Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Alsaied, Szczepan Mazur, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami
6.30pm: Emirates Fillies Classic – Prestige (PA) Dh100,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Mumayaza, Antonio Fresu, Eric Lemartinel
7pm: Emirates Colts Classic – Prestige (PA) Dh100,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Hameem, Adrie de Vries, Abdallah Al Hammadi
7.30pm: President’s Cup – Group 1 (PA) Dh2,500,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: Somoud, Richard Mullen, Jean de Roualle
8pm: President’s Cup – Listed (TB) Dh380,000 (T) 1,400m; Winner: Medahim, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
SPECS
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
Difference between fractional ownership and timeshare
Although similar in its appearance, the concept of a fractional title deed is unlike that of a timeshare, which usually involves multiple investors buying “time” in a property whereby the owner has the right to occupation for a specified period of time in any year, as opposed to the actual real estate, said John Peacock, Head of Indirect Tax and Conveyancing, BSA Ahmad Bin Hezeem & Associates, a law firm.
One in four Americans don't plan to retire
Nearly a quarter of Americans say they never plan to retire, according to a poll that suggests a disconnection between individuals' retirement plans and the realities of ageing in the workforce.
Experts say illness, injury, layoffs and caregiving responsibilities often force older workers to leave their jobs sooner than they'd like.
According to the poll from The Associated Press-NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research, 23 per cent of workers, including nearly two in 10 of those over 50, don't expect to stop working. Roughly another quarter of Americans say they will continue working beyond their 65th birthday.
According to government data, about one in five people 65 and older was working or actively looking for a job in June. The study surveyed 1,423 adults in February this year.
For many, money has a lot to do with the decision to keep working.
"The average retirement age that we see in the data has gone up a little bit, but it hasn't gone up that much," says Anqi Chen, assistant director of savings research at the Centre for Retirement Research at Boston College. "So people have to live in retirement much longer, and they may not have enough assets to support themselves in retirement."
When asked how financially comfortable they feel about retirement, 14 per cent of Americans under the age of 50 and 29 per cent over 50 say they feel extremely or very prepared, according to the poll. About another four in 10 older adults say they do feel somewhat prepared, while just about one-third feel unprepared.
"One of the things about thinking about never retiring is that you didn't save a whole lot of money," says Ronni Bennett, 78, who was pushed out of her job as a New York City-based website editor at 63.
She searched for work in the immediate aftermath of her layoff, a process she describes as akin to "banging my head against a wall." Finding Manhattan too expensive without a steady stream of income, she eventually moved to Portland, Maine. A few years later, she moved again, to Lake Oswego, Oregon. "Sometimes I fantasise that if I win the lottery, I'd go back to New York," says Ms Bennett.
TO A LAND UNKNOWN
Director: Mahdi Fleifel
Starring: Mahmoud Bakri, Aram Sabbah, Mohammad Alsurafa
Rating: 4.5/5
TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Getting there
The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly to Johannesburg or Cape Town daily. Flights cost from about Dh3,325, with a flying time of 8hours and 15 minutes. From there, fly South African Airlines or Air Namibia to Namibia’s Windhoek Hosea Kutako International Airport, for about Dh850. Flying time is 2 hours.
The stay
Wilderness Little Kulala offers stays from £460 (Dh2,135) per person, per night. It is one of seven Wilderness Safari lodges in Namibia; www.wilderness-safaris.com.
Skeleton Coast Safaris’ four-day adventure involves joining a very small group in a private plane, flying to some of the remotest areas in the world, with each night spent at a different camp. It costs from US$8,335.30 (Dh30,611); www.skeletoncoastsafaris.com
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
THE BIO
Favourite book: ‘Purpose Driven Life’ by Rick Warren
Favourite travel destination: Switzerland
Hobbies: Travelling and following motivational speeches and speakers
Favourite place in UAE: Dubai Museum
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20APPLE%20M3%20MACBOOK%20AIR%20(13%22)
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At a glance - Zayed Sustainability Prize 2020
Launched: 2008
Categories: Health, energy, water, food, global high schools
Prize: Dh2.2 million (Dh360,000 for global high schools category)
Winners’ announcement: Monday, January 13
Impact in numbers
335 million people positively impacted by projects
430,000 jobs created
10 million people given access to clean and affordable drinking water
50 million homes powered by renewable energy
6.5 billion litres of water saved
26 million school children given solar lighting
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
