CHONGQING, CHINA — China has ambitious plans to build the first ever solar power station in space.<br /><br />China's Science and Technology Daily reports the country is planning to build a solar power station that would orbit the earth at a distance of 36,000 kilometers.<br /><br />The newspaper quotes Li Ming, vice-president of The China Academy of Space Technology, as saying in 2017 that China has the potential to become the first country to build a solar power station with practical value in space if it continues to increase development at its current speed.<br /><br />Pang Zhihao, a researcher from the China Academy of Space Technology, told the newspaper the solar station would be able to draw energy from the sun without any interference from Earth's atmosphere.<br /><br />Pang said the orbital power plant would be able to provide a stable supply of energy back to Earth upto 99 percent of the time, at six times the intensity of regular solar farms.<br /><br />The scientists are expected to build a small to medium-sized solar power station and launch it to the stratosphere between 2021 and 2025, according to Science and Technology Daily.<br /><br />Pang said the team is also contemplating whether to use robots and 3D printing technology to build the power station in space, as its weight could exceed 1,000 tonnes.
