Lunar Solar Power: Three Frontiers of Energy

Space-Based Solar Power (SBSP) ideas have been floated for decades. In 1976, NASA introduced this early-stage concept for a large solar power satellite in cislunar space.
Credit: NASA

Part 2/3: Powering Cislunar Space — Why Lunar Solar Energy Matters for Missions Between Earth and Moon

Cislunar space—the volume between Earth orbit and lunar orbit—is rapidly evolving from empty macro‑space to a critical logistics corridor. It’s poised to host refuelling stations, depots, tugs, infrastructure depots, and potentially even light manufacturing hubs. All these systems require reliable, sustainable energy sources—but carrying large batteries or fuel reserves limits spacecraft design and mission duration.

Here, lunar SBSP offers a transformative solution—and it’s not a new idea. The header image is a 1976 NASA Solar Power Satellite concept: a kilometre-scale truss hung with vast solar blankets and a steerable microwave antenna in geosynchronous orbit, designed to beam power to ground rectennas. While that study targeted Earth baseload, the architecture it pioneered—large, autonomously assembled orbital arrays and wireless power transfer—directly foreshadows today’s cislunar use cases. The same elements can be repurposed to beam energy across the Earth–Moon corridor to waystations, tugs, depots, and lunar surface receivers, turning “power as payload” into power as a service.

Building on that heritage, large solar installations located on lunar ridges—especially near the poles—could beam power to cislunar assets: spacecraft in Earth or lunar orbit, refuelling modules, or surface landers. Power‑beaming can be achieved via Laser or Microwave‑based wireless transmission, reducing the need for heavy onboard generators and significantly cutting launch mass and costs.

Recent technical literature supports this model. A 2025 study on hybrid FSO (laser) and RF (microwave) wireless power transfer shows that a solar‑powered satellite in lunar orbit could relay as much as ~332 kW to a low lunar orbit relay, which could then distribute power to surface stations—even accounting for signal misalignment. Meanwhile, work on phased‑array laser power beaming outlines how coherent, precision‑steered laser beams can deliver high‑density energy to lunar receivers, overcoming challenges from extended lunar night and shadowed terrain.

A grounded vignette comes from NASA’s Artemis CubeSats launched to scout cislunar space in 2024—several of them failed prematurely due to inadequate power budgets. These missions flag a central weakness: power limitations in deep space quickly become mission‑ending vulnerabilities. Beamed energy from the lunar surface could have kept them operational longer, extending their scientific value.

Commercially, lunar power would catalyse new models. Satellite operators could lease power capacity instead of designing overbuilt systems. Space station developers could treat energy as a utility. Logistics providers could schedule more frequent Earth–Moon shuttling at lower cost. The effect could be analogous to terrestrial grid electrification—only now, it’s in space.

Strategically, this has broader implications. Cislunar space is increasingly viewed as an arena for strategic infrastructure—not just civil or commercial access, but also for communications, surveillance, and resilience. Integrated energy systems could support dual‑use platforms, enhancing both civil and defence capabilities without redundancy.

If mid‑century cislunar space evolves into an industrial corridor, lunar SBSP becomes its unseen backbone—a grid in the void enabling all other activity.