I've been thinking about microwave-electric rocket propulsion for cislunar OTVs lately... it's cool how you can build a really impressively large and light microwave antenna/rectenna in space with relatively near-future stuff like the Tethers Unlimited 'SpiderFab' construction robot.
January 26, 2026 at 5:24 AM
I've been thinking about microwave-electric rocket propulsion for cislunar OTVs lately... it's cool how you can build a really impressively large and light microwave antenna/rectenna in space with relatively near-future stuff like the Tethers Unlimited 'SpiderFab' construction robot.
Design of a 35 GHz microwave rectenna to power a drone in flight:
www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15...
The higher frequency allows for 10 km range, and rfficiency reaches 80%, but an intensity limit of 300 W/m^2 imposes a huge area for modest power input; 90 m^2 for 27 kW.
www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15...
The higher frequency allows for 10 km range, and rfficiency reaches 80%, but an intensity limit of 300 W/m^2 imposes a huge area for modest power input; 90 m^2 for 27 kW.
July 17, 2026 at 2:46 AM
Design of a 35 GHz microwave rectenna to power a drone in flight:
www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15...
The higher frequency allows for 10 km range, and rfficiency reaches 80%, but an intensity limit of 300 W/m^2 imposes a huge area for modest power input; 90 m^2 for 27 kW.
www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15...
The higher frequency allows for 10 km range, and rfficiency reaches 80%, but an intensity limit of 300 W/m^2 imposes a huge area for modest power input; 90 m^2 for 27 kW.
Ich bin so alt, ich hab mir sowas selbst gebaut 🙂
Mit Transistorverstärker, Energie aber ebenfalls aus der HF des Funksignals:
Mit Transistorverstärker, Energie aber ebenfalls aus der HF des Funksignals:
Rectenna – Wikipedia
de.wikipedia.org
July 1, 2024 at 7:40 AM
Ich bin so alt, ich hab mir sowas selbst gebaut 🙂
Mit Transistorverstärker, Energie aber ebenfalls aus der HF des Funksignals:
Mit Transistorverstärker, Energie aber ebenfalls aus der HF des Funksignals:
1.6 kW microwave power beaming over 1.05 km:
ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/966...
A 5.4m wide 91.2 kW X-band transmitter was pointed at a 4 m^2 rectenna, achieving 73% RF-to-DC conversion efficiency, followed by a test to overvolt destruction at 2.7 kW.
ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/966...
A 5.4m wide 91.2 kW X-band transmitter was pointed at a 4 m^2 rectenna, achieving 73% RF-to-DC conversion efficiency, followed by a test to overvolt destruction at 2.7 kW.
December 13, 2024 at 6:47 PM
1.6 kW microwave power beaming over 1.05 km:
ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/966...
A 5.4m wide 91.2 kW X-band transmitter was pointed at a 4 m^2 rectenna, achieving 73% RF-to-DC conversion efficiency, followed by a test to overvolt destruction at 2.7 kW.
ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/966...
A 5.4m wide 91.2 kW X-band transmitter was pointed at a 4 m^2 rectenna, achieving 73% RF-to-DC conversion efficiency, followed by a test to overvolt destruction at 2.7 kW.
Looking through the windows on the next part of the queue, you get a good view of Strono "Cookie" Tuggs' Sienar-Chall Utilipede Transport docked on top of the Docking Bay 7 restaurant. Below that you can see the Millennium Falcon's rectangular rectenna which replaced the round one lost in ROTJ.
January 5, 2025 at 12:17 AM
Looking through the windows on the next part of the queue, you get a good view of Strono "Cookie" Tuggs' Sienar-Chall Utilipede Transport docked on top of the Docking Bay 7 restaurant. Below that you can see the Millennium Falcon's rectangular rectenna which replaced the round one lost in ROTJ.
Space based energy proposals usually use microwaves and rectenna arrays to receive power to avoid atmospheric losses, I dunno how well this would work.
April 28, 2026 at 2:36 PM
Space based energy proposals usually use microwaves and rectenna arrays to receive power to avoid atmospheric losses, I dunno how well this would work.
Carter game him a blank check to put a rectenna in your neighborhood
August 23, 2025 at 4:18 AM
Carter game him a blank check to put a rectenna in your neighborhood
I see evidence of people going "VC funding means we MIGHT become gazillionaires, and this Sounds Cool!"
And very little thought into why space has different constraints than ground-based solar.
They'd be better off with solar power satellites beaming power down to rectenna farms.
And very little thought into why space has different constraints than ground-based solar.
They'd be better off with solar power satellites beaming power down to rectenna farms.
March 22, 2026 at 12:35 PM
I see evidence of people going "VC funding means we MIGHT become gazillionaires, and this Sounds Cool!"
And very little thought into why space has different constraints than ground-based solar.
They'd be better off with solar power satellites beaming power down to rectenna farms.
And very little thought into why space has different constraints than ground-based solar.
They'd be better off with solar power satellites beaming power down to rectenna farms.
A Hall rectenna based on a Weyl semimetal demonstrates efficient electromagnetic wave detection with a tunable bandwidth exceeding 100 GHz, operating at room temperature and low input power. doi.org/hbtd6x
A Hall 'rectenna' can detect signals over a 100 GHz frequency range
Many current wireless communication, imaging and sensing technologies rely on components that convert oscillating electric and magnetic fields (i.e., electromagnetic waves) into electrical signals.
phys.org
March 22, 2026 at 3:00 PM
A Hall rectenna based on a Weyl semimetal demonstrates efficient electromagnetic wave detection with a tunable bandwidth exceeding 100 GHz, operating at room temperature and low input power. doi.org/hbtd6x
I did simulate it in fact, with the TLW Monolith-class SSP (10x5km), the panel itself isn't really very visible, the rectenna (1km) is the most visible part (white), and in the worst of cases one of these is barely more visible than an average star.
Since they're in GEO, they also don't move much...
Since they're in GEO, they also don't move much...
April 4, 2026 at 8:09 AM
I did simulate it in fact, with the TLW Monolith-class SSP (10x5km), the panel itself isn't really very visible, the rectenna (1km) is the most visible part (white), and in the worst of cases one of these is barely more visible than an average star.
Since they're in GEO, they also don't move much...
Since they're in GEO, they also don't move much...
It turns out that beam spread in atmosphere means a rectenna array at ground level is *larger* than the actual orbital solar power sat.
The reason it's still useful is because it doesn't spend half the day in shadow (aka "night") if it's in a high enough orbit. 24x7 power.
The reason it's still useful is because it doesn't spend half the day in shadow (aka "night") if it's in a high enough orbit. 24x7 power.
January 15, 2025 at 7:04 PM
It turns out that beam spread in atmosphere means a rectenna array at ground level is *larger* than the actual orbital solar power sat.
The reason it's still useful is because it doesn't spend half the day in shadow (aka "night") if it's in a high enough orbit. 24x7 power.
The reason it's still useful is because it doesn't spend half the day in shadow (aka "night") if it's in a high enough orbit. 24x7 power.
Listen, I just think we should use all that space wasted on a 315km^2 microwave rectenna on a FAR cheaper and less expensive German-style open-pit coal mine that utterly annihilates the surrounding countryside
October 17, 2023 at 5:06 PM
Listen, I just think we should use all that space wasted on a 315km^2 microwave rectenna on a FAR cheaper and less expensive German-style open-pit coal mine that utterly annihilates the surrounding countryside
Yup, and since to avoid losses the panel is always pointed directly towards the sun, you wouldn't get Iridium-like flashes, nor would you see the trusses below (that would be in shadow)...
That leaves the rectenna, which would be visible, but in most cases the Sun would be lighting it up at [...]
That leaves the rectenna, which would be visible, but in most cases the Sun would be lighting it up at [...]
April 4, 2026 at 12:47 PM
Yup, and since to avoid losses the panel is always pointed directly towards the sun, you wouldn't get Iridium-like flashes, nor would you see the trusses below (that would be in shadow)...
That leaves the rectenna, which would be visible, but in most cases the Sun would be lighting it up at [...]
That leaves the rectenna, which would be visible, but in most cases the Sun would be lighting it up at [...]
Us Rectenna Market Growth Opportunities and Future Outlook 2026 www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/us-r...
#Rectenna #WirelessPower #EnergyHarvesting #Innovation #RFTechnology #USMarket #NextGenEnergy #Tech #Electronics #Research
#Rectenna #WirelessPower #EnergyHarvesting #Innovation #RFTechnology #USMarket #NextGenEnergy #Tech #Electronics #Research
April 22, 2026 at 6:52 AM
Us Rectenna Market Growth Opportunities and Future Outlook 2026 www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/us-r...
#Rectenna #WirelessPower #EnergyHarvesting #Innovation #RFTechnology #USMarket #NextGenEnergy #Tech #Electronics #Research
#Rectenna #WirelessPower #EnergyHarvesting #Innovation #RFTechnology #USMarket #NextGenEnergy #Tech #Electronics #Research
Did you know that rectenna is a form of portmanteau?
December 10, 2025 at 8:30 AM
Did you know that rectenna is a form of portmanteau?
An interesting concept for a device to directly convert light into electricity using nanoscale resonator cavities to 'rectify' surface plasmon polaritons like a rectenna.
Unlike a photovoltaic device, it could reach 84% efficiency using sunlight.
patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/de...
Unlike a photovoltaic device, it could reach 84% efficiency using sunlight.
patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/de...
January 22, 2024 at 4:00 PM
An interesting concept for a device to directly convert light into electricity using nanoscale resonator cavities to 'rectify' surface plasmon polaritons like a rectenna.
Unlike a photovoltaic device, it could reach 84% efficiency using sunlight.
patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/de...
Unlike a photovoltaic device, it could reach 84% efficiency using sunlight.
patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/de...
‘a station capable of generating one gigawatt would require array of mirrors spanning several hundred metres…expert panel agreed…showed it could send kilowatt-level power more than 100 metres, while also proving that a single transmitter could zap power into multiple moving devices at the same time’
June 19, 2026 at 10:27 PM
‘a station capable of generating one gigawatt would require array of mirrors spanning several hundred metres…expert panel agreed…showed it could send kilowatt-level power more than 100 metres, while also proving that a single transmitter could zap power into multiple moving devices at the same time’
My rectenna could use an adjustment, but otherwise, good to go.
December 27, 2023 at 2:02 AM
My rectenna could use an adjustment, but otherwise, good to go.
The 4th image is quite important - the transmitter operated at 73% efficiency, but the rectenna output 1.8% of the power put in to the transmitter. Much larger rectenna area needed for much higher (but still dreadful from a typical terrestrial power transmission POV) overall efficiency. Niche!
December 14, 2024 at 8:00 PM
The 4th image is quite important - the transmitter operated at 73% efficiency, but the rectenna output 1.8% of the power put in to the transmitter. Much larger rectenna area needed for much higher (but still dreadful from a typical terrestrial power transmission POV) overall efficiency. Niche!
No worries - gave me a chance to point to the article. I think that one is interesting because it's so ridiculously political. In a strange different reality the Shuttle would have launched/landed near Flagstaff AZ, where I live - and we'd have had a Solar Power Sat rectenna, too.
January 23, 2024 at 4:47 PM
No worries - gave me a chance to point to the article. I think that one is interesting because it's so ridiculously political. In a strange different reality the Shuttle would have launched/landed near Flagstaff AZ, where I live - and we'd have had a Solar Power Sat rectenna, too.
Turns out they're probably not *quite* that bad, insofar as beam spread means the rectenna you need at ground level is larger than the actual PV panels in orbit: if you sunbathed under one for a few hours you might get the equivalent of a bad sunburn, but it wouldn't cook you.
November 4, 2024 at 9:06 PM
Turns out they're probably not *quite* that bad, insofar as beam spread means the rectenna you need at ground level is larger than the actual PV panels in orbit: if you sunbathed under one for a few hours you might get the equivalent of a bad sunburn, but it wouldn't cook you.
Really don't know what to feel about space-based solar power but thankfully I don't need to decide for another few
decades at least
New NASA report:
www.nasa.gov/wp-content/u...
decades at least
New NASA report:
www.nasa.gov/wp-content/u...
January 12, 2024 at 11:24 AM
Really don't know what to feel about space-based solar power but thankfully I don't need to decide for another few
decades at least
New NASA report:
www.nasa.gov/wp-content/u...
decades at least
New NASA report:
www.nasa.gov/wp-content/u...
Power from a solar array on the Moon or in space could be transmitted back to Earth wirelessly via microwaves or laser beams. A rectenna (rectifying antenna) on Earth would then convert the energy into electricity.
You can search for this info, you know. =grin=
You can search for this info, you know. =grin=
August 4, 2025 at 11:36 PM
Power from a solar array on the Moon or in space could be transmitted back to Earth wirelessly via microwaves or laser beams. A rectenna (rectifying antenna) on Earth would then convert the energy into electricity.
You can search for this info, you know. =grin=
You can search for this info, you know. =grin=
I don't even know if this rectenna idea is possible, let alone nearing 90% efficiency possible...but there is a hypothesis that we could reach 86.8% efficiency with an infinite number of solar absorbing layers under concentrated sunlight, and around 66-67% under normal sunlight.
December 8, 2024 at 3:02 PM
I don't even know if this rectenna idea is possible, let alone nearing 90% efficiency possible...but there is a hypothesis that we could reach 86.8% efficiency with an infinite number of solar absorbing layers under concentrated sunlight, and around 66-67% under normal sunlight.