Why China’s space-based solar power is the next frontier of green energy

Amid turmoil in the Middle East, including the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly a quarter of the world’s seaborne oil passes, Beijing is pressing ahead with its Zhuri (sun-chasing) project to build solar power stations in space. Chinese Academy of Engineering academician and senior rocket scientist Long Lehao likened this space-based solar power programme to putting the Three Gorges Dam into geostationary orbit, underscoring its extraordinary scale and ambition. China plans to conduct a megawatt-level in-orbit test by around 2030. Space-based solar power refers to orbital systems that collect solar energy via satellites equipped with enormous solar panels, convert it into microwaves or laser beams and send it wirelessly to ground-based rectennas, which then feed electricity into the grid. The appeal is obvious: unlike terrestrial solar, it operates continuously – unaffected by weather, seasons or nightfall. The concept is not new. Science fiction author Isaac Asimov popularised the idea in his 1941 short story Reason, while aerospace engineer Peter Glaser published the first technical design for an orbital solar power system in 1968. In the 1970s, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) confirmed its feasibility before concluding that engineering complexity and launch costs made it economically unviable. But that is now changing. Advances in robotics, wireless power transmission and sharply falling launch costs are narrowing the gap between concept and reality. Major space powers are taking notice. Listed as a key national research programme since 2008 and advanced through a state-approved proposal in 2013, China’s space-based solar power initiative is well under way, supported by state investment and institutional coordination. Milestones have since followed. In 2019, the China Academy of Space Technology announced plans for a 200-tonne megawatt-level orbital power station by 2035, and later outlined plans for wireless power transmission experiments in low Earth orbit by 2028. Longer-term ambitions are even greater. By 2050, a Chinese Academy of Sciences road map envisions a commercially viable gigawatt-scale station. If realised, it could generate as much energy in a year as all the recoverable oil on Earth. Beijing’s interest in space-based solar power is driven by several interlinked strategic goals. Beyond advancing China’s space industrialisation plans and technological leadership ambitions, space-based solar addresses pressing energy concerns. Energy security remains the most pressing driver. As the world’s largest energy consumer and a major importer of oil and gas, China remains dependent on vulnerable supply routes, both maritime and overland, that lie beyond its full control. Fears of disruptions to these fragile corridors have only sharpened as Middle East instability intensifies. Space-based solar power also supports China’s low-carbon transition. President Xi Jinping has pledged to peak carbon emissions before 2030, and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. Yet coal still supplies just over half of China’s total energy consumption despite rapid renewable expansion. Adding to concerns, power shortfalls in 2020–21 exposed the risks of over-reliance on intermittent renewables, strengthening the case for stable clean energy sources. While supporting energy efficiency, space-based solar power can also help the country meet its vast long-term energy needs, as China’s climate envoy Chai Qimin has acknowledged. The concept aligns with broader policy goals, such as the 15th five-year plan, which calls for building China into a “strong energy power”. China’s National Energy Administration emphasises strengthening long-term energy stability and resilience. Challenges loom large. High costs and low efficiency in long-distance wireless power transmission are major hurdles. Yet growing private-sector interest could address such concerns. Commercial momentum is already building: by early 2026, shares in China’s space photovoltaic sector surged over 26 per cent in just two months, reflecting rising investor confidence in the technology’s potential. Deploying operational space-based solar power also exposes significant governance gaps. The 1967 Outer Space Treaty doesn’t specifically address orbital energy transmission or competition over geostationary slots. Broader space governance among countries remains fractured: the Artemis Accords cover lunar exploration but offer no framework for orbital energy infrastructure. Moreover, China has not signed them, a product both of the Wolf Amendment’s prohibition on Nasa-China cooperation and Beijing’s deliberate choice to anchor space governance in the UN rather than US-led frameworks. The space-energy landscape thus remains without agreed international rules. Into that vacuum, competition, including from Japan, the US and Europe, is already rushing in. For Beijing, success could translate into leadership in both the energy and space technology sectors, potentially complementing the Belt and Road Initiative by allowing exports of orbital energy to the Global South. Such systems could deepen China’s influence while embedding partner states within Chinese technological ecosystems. Concurrently, the development of orbital energy systems intersects with systemic US-China competition, which already spans space exploration, technological standards and strategic resources. With Beijing having designated space a defence domain by establishing a dedicated People’s Liberation Army Aerospace Force, advances in space-based solar power may heighten concerns over the militarisation of space. As both powers pursue ambitious lunar bases and long-term deep-space goals – however contested the path – it is plausible that geopolitical and geoeconomic tensions on Earth will extend into outer space. If realised at scale, China’s Zhuri project would be more than an energy innovation – it would be infrastructure in orbit, redrawing energy flows, setting new governance standards and determining which countries anchor the networks underpinning the global energy order. China’s space-based solar power ambitions are as much a bid for strategic influence as for clean energy. In the emerging space-energy era, the two may prove impossible to separate.

Why China’s space-based solar power is the next frontier of green energy

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}As the race for orbital energy heats up, China’s ambitious plan to build solar stations in space could boost its strategic influence beyond our atmosphere

As the race for orbital energy heats up, China’s ambitious plan to build solar stations in space could boost its strategic influence beyond our atmosphere