After being announced in June, the Japanese government (more specifically a Japanese space agency/non-profit organization USEF - Institute for Unmanned Space Experiment Free Flyer) has confirmed their plans to build a solar-power power plant in space. USEF has named the project Space Solar Power System or SSPS. The project has an estimated cost of $21 billion, but with the scope and time frame of this project being so large, the end cost is sure to be much higher. Luckily, two giants of Japanese industry, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation and IHI Corporation, have agreed to join the project and help fund it.
The plan for the orbiting power plant is to power 300,000 homes in Japan. That doesn’t seem like very many homes for such an incredibly expensive project, but if the project is a success the commercial applications will change the landscape of power generation forever.
