Wireless Power Transmission: A New Frontier for Lunar Colonisation Development

By 2030, the world's leading space agencies plan to be on lunar soil with human bases, human activities and innovative architecture. The Artemis missions are paving the way for this innovative market, creating the need for continuous, secure and scalable forms of energy supply on lunar soil increasingly real and compelling. Meeting the substantial energy demands of lunar exploration is challenging due to current power generation and storage limitations influenced by the extended lunar day-night cycle present in many areas of scientific interest. For these reasons, an innovative solution is proposed: a satellite-based power transmission system utilizing lasers to deliver wireless energy to any lunar location, independent from sunlight availability. The proposed architecture involves a constellation of satellites orbiting the Moon, converting and storing solar energy to transmit it via laser beams to surface receivers. The key elements of the system are the high-power fiber laser and the targeting system based on three stages of precision, including the GNC of the satellite and a Fine Steering Mirror system. Also of paramount importance are orbital studies, focusing on frozen orbits, the thermal management system that must handle laser dissipation and the analysis of innovatively shaped receivers placed on lunar ground.