DARPA has announced a new program to develop ground and airborne laser installations to power aircraft thousands of miles away. But for starters, engineers want to transmit 10 kilowatts over 200 kilometers.

Development details

At first glance, the idea is very attractive and easy to implement. However, many technical problems need to be solved for its implementation. Since lasers only operate in a straight line, airborne repeaters will need to be placed in the upper atmosphere to minimize signal attenuation and distortion from various atmospheric phenomena. In addition, transmitters and repeaters will need to constantly aim at the object and adjust the beam, maintaining focus, similar to combat lasers.

But the most serious problem large energy lossesIt results from multiple conversions of laser light into electricity and back.

• The project, called POWER, is so far in its first phase, which involves developing the conceptual design of the relay.
• The second phase will involve the integration of this technology into the fuselage of one of the existing aircraft.
• In the third, tests will be carried out to transmit 10 kilowatts of energy to 200 kilometers.

This project has potential Advancing energy transmission technology by several orders of magnitudeIt can fundamentally change society’s attitude towards energy. A wireless energy network could enable us to access energy from a variety of new sources, including space.

It is unclear when this technology will be fully operational. But most likely it will be more than a year.