China plans to build a 'Three Gorges Dam in space'

(CLO) After announcing plans to build the world's largest dam, China continues to draw attention with another ambitious project: harnessing solar energy from space.

The project was proposed by renowned Chinese rocket scientist Long Lehao. The goal is to deploy a 1 km wide solar array in geostationary orbit, 36,000 km above Earth, where it can collect solar energy continuously without being affected by the day-night cycle or weather.

Mr. Long compared the energy production potential of this project to the Three Gorges Dam, which currently produces about 100 billion kWh per year. Built on the Yangtze River, the Three Gorges Dam is so massive that it slows the Earth's rotation by 0.6 microseconds, according to NASA.

The Long March-5 rocket at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in southern China. Photo: Xinhua

"We are working on this project. It's as important as moving the Three Gorges Dam into geostationary orbit, 36,000 km from Earth. This is a highly anticipated project," Long said. "The energy harvested in one year would be equivalent to the total amount of oil that could be extracted from Earth."

The project requires the development and deployment of super-heavy rockets, which would necessitate significant advances in space technology for China. The Long March-9 (CZ-9), a reusable heavy-lift rocket developed by Long's team, is considered the primary vehicle for this project.

"While the CZ-5 is about 50 meters tall, the CZ-9 will be up to 110 meters tall. An important application of this rocket is the construction of solar power stations in space," Long added.

Notably, the CZ-9 can carry up to 150 tons into low Earth orbit, surpassing heavy-lift rockets like the Saturn V and NASA's Space Launch System (SLS), which have a capacity of 130 tons.

While the concept may sound like science fiction, it's not the first time the idea has been floated. Space-based solar power plants, which collect energy from the Sun in orbit and beam it back to Earth, have been internationally dubbed the "Manhattan Project" of the energy industry.

Ngoc Anh (according to SCMP, NDTV)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/trung-quoc-len-ke-hoach-xay-dung-dap-tam-hiep-trong-khong-gian-post329828.html