China wants to use lasers to power lunar missions

China could use laser energy transfer from lunar orbit to power spacecraft. This would solve one of the most important problems in its plans for lunar exploration.

China’s Chang’e-4 spacecraft on the Moon. Source: CNSA

The absence of an atmosphere leads to a high temperature difference on the Moon’s surface: from +127 °C during the day to – 173 °C at night. The significant length of the lunar night, which is 14 Earth days, also poses an additional problem. 

All these factors make life much more difficult for spacecraft designers. To survive the long lunar night, it needs heaters. The traditional solution to the problem is radioisotope energy sources. But they are limited in capacity and expensive. Nuclear reactors, on the other hand, are ideal for large-scale bases but raise safety and complexity concerns.

Chinese scientists and engineers have a solution to the problem: lasers. It is a technology that uses laser beams to wirelessly transmit energy from orbiting satellites to receivers on the surface, which then convert the light into electricity. 

In a paper published in the Journal of Deep Space Exploration in October 2024, researchers from the Chinese Academy of Space Technology and the Shandong Aerospace Electronics Research Institute studied this question in detail. They conclude that this technology has the potential to solve many of the problems that will arise in lunar exploration. Moreover, it is not only a question of providing power to the vehicles during lunar nights, but also of keeping the missions running at the bottom of the perpetually shadowed polar craters. It is thought to contain water ice that could be used to produce fuel, water or oxygen for lunar settlers.

At the same time, Chinese researchers noted that challenges such as efficiency, transmission range, visibility and operational difficulties stand in the way of utilizing the technology. Therefore, they called for focusing on the development of space-based high-power lasers and high-precision laser systems to test the technology in orbit as soon as possible.

Previously, we reported on how NASA was resisting Elon Musk’s plans to derail the colonization of the Moon.

According to Spacenews

Advertising