NIAC Phase I Final Report “Efficient Direct Conversion of Sunlight to Coherent Light at High Average Power in Space”

Description of the effort: We address technology for an optically based power infrastructure in the region extending from Earth to, and including, the lunar surface. The constraints imposed by physical laws are distinguished from constraints imposed by need for maturation of technology. We conclude such an infrastructure is feasible, in a prototypical sense, within 10-40 years. We develop a design for a scalable 100 kW solar pumped solid state laser power oscillator, located, e.g., near a lunar pole, supportive of such an infrastructure. Applications to exploration, alternative energy for Earth and space, and to defense of Earth, as from asteroid impact, are examined.