Space Solar Power Station Written into China's 15th Five-Year Plan, Three Technical Paths Mapped Out

China’s space solar power station initiative has been formally included in the nation’s 15th Five-Year Plan for the first time, signaling a strategic shift from conceptual research toward engineering pre-development of space-based energy infrastructure, according to the newly released New Energy System Construction plan jointly published by the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration.

While the plan’s reference to space solar power is brief, its inclusion carries significant weight. It represents a directional advance deployment — exploring long-term energy solutions beyond 2050 at the national planning level. The space solar power station concept involves collecting solar energy in geostationary orbit where sunlight is available 24/7 at roughly 10 times terrestrial intensity, then transmitting it to Earth via microwave or laser beams.

Three technology pathways are converging toward engineering validation. The first is energy materials: ultra-high-efficiency solar cells capable of withstanding the space radiation environment. Gallium arsenide cells remain the mainstream solution with over 30% conversion efficiency, while crystalline silicon and emerging perovskite thin-film technologies offer promising cost-reduction paths. China’s dominance in global silicon photovoltaic manufacturing — over 90% of global capacity — provides a unique industrial foundation.

The second pathway is wireless power transmission. Professor Duan Baoyan’s “Zhuri Project” has constructed the world’s first full-chain ground verification system for space solar power stations, achieving kilowatt-level power output over hundred-meter distances with dynamic target microwave transmission. Meanwhile, Professor Yang Shizhong’s team has pursued stratospheric power generation and both microwave and laser wireless transmission paths. Additional teams at the China Academy of Space Technology, Institute of Electrical Engineering at CAS, Beijing Institute of Technology, and Harbin Institute of Technology are advancing high-power microwave transmission and space power systems.

The third pathway is space infrastructure and in-orbit assembly. A single gigawatt-class geostationary space solar station could mass thousands of tons — tens to hundreds of times the International Space Station’s 420-ton mass. Breakthroughs in reusable launch vehicles like the Long March 9, modular in-orbit assembly, and space robotics are bringing these scales within economic consideration. The commercial space industry’s rapid development has driven launch costs down sharply, making the once-fanciful economics of space-based power generation increasingly discussable.

Companies including Star Energy Power and Stellar Power have emerged as early movers in space-grade photovoltaic materials, with perovskite cells already completing in-orbit validation aboard commercial satellites and the China Space Station, accumulating months of real-space environment performance data critical for long-duration service validation.