Frontiers of Space Power and Energy

Space faring, including space exploration, commercialization, and colonization, requires serious levels of power and energy. It is required for in-space and on-body propulsion, habitats and transportation, In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU), manufacturing, life support, robotics, satellites, sensors, and construction. The current power and energy sources being applied and under development include solar energy, chemical fuels, radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) nuclear batteries, and fission nuclear reactors.

There are problems with each of these including reductions in solar intensity farther from the Sun and due to dust, ISRU resource processing requirements, storage, transfer of chemical fuels and the weight, energy density, and safety of the current nuclear approaches. Alternative energy sources could reduce cost and weight and improve safety, efficiency, and functionality.