1. United States
2. S.C.
3. Letter

Subject: Proposal for a U.S. Space-Based Solar Power Demonstration Japan is scheduled to launch the OHISAMA satellite in fiscal year 2026. It is a small demonstration satellite (approximately 180 kg) that will generate about 1 kilowatt of power in low-Earth orbit and beam it to Earth using microwaves. This is the first attempt to prove the full chain: sunlight → electricity → microwave transmission → usable power on the ground. A comparable U.S. demonstration satellite would cost roughly $10–50 million to design, build, and launch. The White House complex currently uses an estimated 2,400 megawatt-hours of electricity per year at a cost of roughly $200,000–$400,000 annually. Roof-mounted solar can cover only about 6% of that load. A space-based demonstration would not power the White House, but it would place the United States in the same technological race Japan is already running and prove the concept for future energy security applications. Benefits • The United States already has a research foundation: NASA and the Air Force studied space solar in the 1970s and 1980s, and Caltech flew a wireless power transmission demo in 2023. This proposal builds on existing work rather than starting from scratch. • A beamed power source that works anywhere on Earth supports military resilience — forward bases and disaster zones often cannot rely on local grids. • It creates domestic expertise in wireless power transmission, high-efficiency space solar arrays, and precision beam control, with both civilian and national-security applications. • It provides a clear, low-cost pathway to evaluate whether larger systems are worth pursuing later. Feasibility • Japan has already proven ground and aircraft-based microwave power transmission and is now moving to orbit with a modest 1 kW satellite. The technical path is known. • The United States has conducted related research (Caltech, Air Force Research Laboratory, and earlier NASA studies), so the knowledge base exists. • A small demonstration does