China’s Space Solar System May Support Communication and Electronic Warfare
China’s space-based solar power programme may be evolving beyond its clean energy ambitions, with a senior scientist outlining how the technology could also support military-related functions such as surveillance, communication security and electronic interference.
Duan Baoyan, a leading architect of China’s “Zhuri” space solar power initiative, said in a paper published in Scientia Sinica Informationis that the design of the proposed orbital system had been revised to perform a broader range of tasks.
Alongside power transmission, the system is now expected to support functions including communication, navigation, reconnaissance, interference and remote control.
Duan is a professor of electromechanical engineering at Xidian University in Xian and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.
Precision microwave beams raise strategic possibilities
According to the paper, the redesigned system would rely on extremely narrow and highly steerable microwave beams to transmit energy from orbit to the ground across long distances. These features are intended to improve the efficiency and precision of wireless power transmission.
However, the same capabilities could also enable targeted signal delivery. In principle, that opens the door to strategic applications such as jamming hostile signals or securing military communications.
The paper offers a rare indication of how space-based solar power technology, while designed for civilian energy use, could also carry dual-use potential in defence and electronic warfare.
China advances work on space-based solar power
China is among the leading countries pursuing space-based solar power technology. Unlike solar panels installed on the ground, orbital systems are not affected in the same way by weather conditions, seasonal changes or the day-night cycle. This allows them to collect solar energy almost continuously.
In these systems, sunlight is captured in space and converted into electricity. That electricity is then transmitted to Earth using microwave beams, before being converted back into usable power by ground-based receiving antennas.
Focus on practicality and resilience
The distributed design is intended to make the system more practical and resilient. By grouping multiple solar-collecting units into arrays and modules, the power station could continue operating even if some components fail.
According to the paper, this approach would also reduce the engineering challenges linked to managing extremely high power levels in space and lower the overall complexity of constructing such a system.
China’s space-based solar power effort is being shaped not only as a future energy platform, but also as a technology with broader strategic relevance. While its primary purpose remains wireless power transmission, the addition of communication, reconnaissance and interference functions indicates that its long-term role could extend well beyond electricity generation.