31 Our research indicates NASA is developing technologies with broad applicability to a wide suite of future mission needs and enable SBSP as well. However, we view SBSP as a use case for these technologies, not a driver for NASA’s development programs. We recommend that NASA stay abreast of outside SBSP developments and requirements as it matures the technologies needed for its missions. NASA could maintain its awareness in part by repeating this study at different scales of effort every three to five years. 6.1 Option 1: Undirected and Organic Development NASA is currently developing technologies and capabilities that have applicability to SBSP, such as ISAM, autonomy for distributed systems, and power beaming, though these investments vary greatly. ISAM and autonomy have dedicated technology development programs while NASA-funded power beaming work today is limited to paper research. Continuing to invest in these capabilities, even while taking no new action, will make SBSP systems more technically feasible in the future. NASA should continue to monitor and maintain awareness of ongoing developments in SBSP. This option does not require any changes to NASA’s budget allocations. 6.2 Option 2: Pursue Partnership Options to Advance SBSP Our work has shown there are multiple entities in the U.S. and abroad pursuing capabilities for which SBSP is a use case. This presents partnership opportunities. Specifically, NASA could become an SBSP technology development partner with other U.S. Government agencies, industry, academia, or international organizations. NASA could focus such partnerships on technologies with high-impact potential for the Agency’s missions. We identified several scalable opportunities for NASA to enter into strategic partnerships based on the level of technology maturity and funding availability. The list of examples below is not intended to be comprehensive, nor are the identified opportunities mutually exclusive. 1. Support other U.S. Government efforts. a. AFRL and DARPA are advancing power beaming technologies. b. DoE has several relevant power and infrastructure programs. 2. Support international efforts. a. ESA, Japan, Australia, and South Korea are U.S. allies and have ongoing government investments to develop SBSP technology. b. NASA could support ESA’s interest in developing SBSP for net zero. 3. Explore novel public-private partnership opportunities in SBSP. a. A joint NASA-DoE study is recommended as a first step to inform such public-private partnership opportunities.
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