Designing SunSats: Accessing solar power from space
Repurposing and innovating broadband communication technologies and media for clean energy development
About You
About You
First Name
Don
Last Name
Flournoy
Twitter URL
About Your Organization
Organization Name
Ohio University
Organization Website
Organization Country
United States, OH, Athens County
Country where this project is creating social impact
United States, OH, Athens County
Is your organization a
Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization
How long has your organization been operating?
1‐5 years
The information you provide here will be used to fill in any parts of your profile that have been left blank, such as interests, organization information, and website. No contact information will be made public. Please uncheck here if you do not want this to happen..
Innovation
Entry Form title
Designing SunSats: Accessing solar power from space
Select the stage that best applies to your solution
Start-Up (a pilot that has just begun operating)
How long have you been in operation?
Operating for less than a year
THE NEED: Describe the need for your solution and the size/dynamic of the community (ies) you will engage
The need is to generate a clean and abundant source of energy without the use of fossil fuels. The solution is to accelerate the design and launch of next-generation satellites that will collect solar energy in space and make it available to all nations as electrical power. The innovation in communication and media is to create an online international competition that matches up: 1) students-in-training (and their teachers) who have access to relevant digital media visualization technologies, resources and skills wherever they are; and 2) researchers, developers and entrepreneurs who have imaginative and plausibly workable ideas about space solar power (SPS) wherever they are. Over the three years of the Competition, project initiators expect that its reach will go beyond the satellite and space enthusiasts of spacefaring nations to all those searching for new sources of non-polluting energy.
THE SOLUTION: Please explain what your solution offers and how it is innovative. How will you put your solution into the hands of users or beneficiaries? Be specific!
Space scientists agree that, after 40 years of development, space solar power technologies are ready for demonstration on earth and in space. Concern about environmental pollution and climate change now makes the space option more attractive. What those technologies and what their potential applications (and impact) are need to be better understood by governments, industry and the general public. The Space Journal has been publishing the latest research and the space associations have been educating their members. But more is needed. Steps prior to government commitment, business investment and construction and launch of solar power satellites, include a more informed citizenry, more open public discussion and understanding, local involvement and participation and acceptance by business, which are the purposes of the SunSat Design Competition.
THE MODEL: Walk us through a specific example of how your solution makes a difference through use of information technology and media
In cooperation with the National Space Society (NSS), the Society of Satellite Professionals International (SSPI), the Online Journal of Space Communication (Space Journal) and our international partners, the Ohio University Game Research and Immersive Design Laboratory (GRID Lab) has launched a 2011-2014 SunSat Design Competition. This Competition will be conducted via an online collaborative workspace called Nebula, that will pair space scientists, engineers and business people globally with creative artists and designers to innovate and visualize how space solar power (SSP) will work. The Competition will help citizens everywhere to better understand the implications of SSP for coal power utility conversion, charging electric car batteries and other devices, desalinating saltwater, providing energy for food production and electricity/communications recovery in disaster situations. Award-winning visualizations will be published in the open access Space Journal, along with easy-to-understand technical briefs and business plans. See http://sunsat.gridlab.ohio.edu.
THE MARKETPLACE: Who are your peers and competitors? What challenges could these players pose to your success or growth?
There are no competitors. This competition is too big, too difficult, too unique for there to be more than one. Our purpose is to be globally inclusive, so whoever is out there with a similar idea will join, not compete, with us. Our purview is any team of international students and young professionals (in science, engineering, business and digital media) willing to work in collaboration with an assigned (or credible other) mentor/scholar of space solar power that completes the SunSat Design registration process. China, EU, India, Japan, US and other countries already have business, government and non-profit sectors actively engaged in SSP research. They will welcome (and get behind) this competition for its many local (educational and innovation) advantages.
Social Impact
This Entry is about (Issues)
FOUNDING STORY: We want to hear about your “Aha!” moment. Share the story of where and when the founder(s) saw this solution’s potential to change the world.
Don Flournoy has taught satellite communications since 1986. He has served as editor of the Space Journal, sponsored by the SSPI, since 2002, and was on the SSPI Board of Directors for two terms. During this time, he was also a member of the NSS. In 2009 and 2010, space solar power was the NSS top priority, and many of the SSP papers presented at its annual International Space Development Conferences, were eventually published in the Space Journal . The "Aha!" moment came when he realized that neither the papers presented at NSS conferences or those published in the Journal would ever be read by the public at large. The language of science and engineering creates an unbridgeable barrier. He then knew that the SSP story needed a different venue and talked to John Bowditch, Director of the Ohio University GRID Lab. This led to some serious thought about ways to use animation, games and simulation media to communicate these difficult concepts to business, government, non-profits and the general public, resulting in a competition that linked those most knowledgeable about generating energy in space with visualization artists in global digital media labs.
Specify both the depth and scale of your solution’s social impact to date
The first step was to create a School of Media Arts and Studies course (MDIA 498/694: SSP Visualization) in Spring 2011 that attracted 21 undergraduate and graduate students from multiple disciplines. The goal was to test the model by creating five GRID Lab project teams (assigning an NSS solar scientist to work online with each) to visualize some space or earth aspect of SSP to be shown at the May 2011 International Space Development Conference at the NASA Center in Huntsville AL. Eighteen students and two instructors travelled to Alabama to present (and receive professional critique of) their work. An additional team from Georgia Tech joined in these presentations. Each of these SSP visualizations (plus two others) will be published in the Fall 2011 issue of the Space journal concurrent with the launch of the SunSat Design Competition that will generate literally hundreds of innovative designs during 2011-2014 related to the challenges of spacecraft design, delivering structures to space, managing the environment of space, transmitting power wirelessly to earth, positioning earth receivers, watching out for environmental health and safety and understanding SSP economics.
What is your projected impact within the next 1-5 years? Is your idea replicable? If so, how?
The Susat Design Competition, addressing the as-yet-unanswered questions standing in the way of building and launching the next-generation satellites that will provide a continuous supply of energy from space, is scheduled in three cycles: 2011-2012, 2012-2013 and 2013-2014. The winning entries will be shown (and critiqued) at the annual NSS conferences (re. in Washington D.C. in 2012) and published for global access in the Online Journal of Space Communication. The NSS will promote the Competition on its website (www.nss.org) and via its print AD ASTRA publication. Similarly, the SSPI will carry related information on www.sspi.org and promotional material in the ORBITER. The global press and social media will be assisted in the creation of news and feature stories drawn from these venues.
Winning entries present a strong plan for how they will achieve and mark growth. Identify your six-month milestone for growing your impact
Six-Month Tasks
Task 1
September 2011 launch of the Competition via the Space Journal, SunSat website, Facebook and Twitter
Task 2
Work with the NSS and SSPI to identify solar scientists, engineers and other professionals to serve as team mentors.
Task 3
Work with the SunSat Competition Advisory Panel to firmly establish the judging criteria and procedures.
Now think bigger! Identify your 12-month impact milestone
12-Month Tasks
Task 1
2011-2012: solicit, register and interact (online) with SSP teams seeking to meet the criteria for entering the Competition.
Task 2
Identify and assign a professional Mentor and a Visualization Student Asst. to guide teams completing the registration process.
Task 3
Recruit the Judges who will assess and rank the completed visualization, technical brief and business plan of each team.
How many people have been impacted by your project?
101 - 1,000
How many people could be impacted by your project in the next three years?
More than 10,000
Sustainability
Explain how your company, program, service or product is structured
Non-profit
What barriers have hindered the success of your project to date? How do you plan to overcome these and other challenges as you grow your solution?
The SunSat Design Competition has received endorsements, approvals and encouragement from multiple sponsoring institutions (Space Journal, Ohio University, SSPI, NSS and GRID Lab), to include generous amounts of student design and administrative work, but grants and cash have been slow in arriving. An OU alumnus gave the project $4,000 so Don Flournoy could take 18 students to the 2011 International Space Development Conference in Huntsville AL. We've written proposals to Google, Cisco, MacArthur Foundation and the TechGROWTH Fund of the State of Ohio, and will continue to do this until we find the right sponsors. Once this concept goes viral, we are confident it will attract the funding we will need. See the fund raising component of http://sunsat.gridlab.ohio.edu.
How do you see the information-technology and media sectors shifting over the next decade? How will your solution adapt to and/or drive that changing environment?
The broadband telecommunication networks and computer processing needed to create, store, retrieve and distribute large data files are growing exponentially. Digital visualization tools are becoming cheaper and more readily available, which means that clusters of talent and skill sufficient to meaningfully participate in this effort to facilitate energy-from-space will soon exist in almost every country of the world. With solar power and satellite communication interconnectivity, even those that are substantially off-the-grid will participate.
Failure is not always an option. If your solution fails to gain traction in the next two years, what other applications of the idea could you explore?
The SunSat Design Competition has traction already and is committed to continue with volunteer labor at some level of effort for the three years.
Expand on your selections, explaining how you will sustain funding
One of the (unfunded) proposals, written by the Space Journal in collaboration with the GRID Lab, targeted the Ohio University Technology Seed Fund. This proposal was to establish a Technology Imaging Center as a for-profit venture, doing commercial visualization of alternative energy solutions such as space solar power. The Center was to develop new intellectual property in digital communications, and also serve University and business clients by providing high-quality video, animations, simulations and graphic design to explain advanced technologies and processes. The Ohio University Scripps College of Communication is a Regents Center of Excellence and the State of OH is now funding business developments associated with the GRID Lab. We hope our project will be one of the next ones.
Tell us about your partnerships
Our partners are: The Society of Satellite Professionals International (SSPI), the National Space Society (NSS), the Online Journal Of Space Communication, the Ohio University GRID Lab, the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras, the Keio University School of System Design and Management-Yokohama Japan and the Georgia Institute of Technology-Atlanta.
What type of team (staff, volunteers, etc.) will ensure that you achieve the growth milestones identified in the Social Impact section?
The Sunsat Design Competition also has a professional Advisory Board consisting of representatives of business and academia. See http://sunsat.gridlab.ohio.edu/.
Changemakers is a collaborative and supportive space. Please specify any community resources you would need to grow and sustain your initiative. Select all that apply
Investment, Human resources or talent, Marketing or media, Research or information, Collaboration or networking, Innovation or ideas, Mentorship.
Specify any resources you might offer to support other initiatives. Select all that apply
Human resources or talent, Marketing or media, Research or information, Collaboration or networking, Innovation or ideas, Mentorship.
Please elaborate on any needs or offers you have mentioned above and/or suggest categories of support that aren’t specified within the list
Summary
Define your company, program, service or product in 1-2 short sentences
A multi-institution collaboration visualizing the future of global energy production through space-based solar power!
Identify what is innovative about your solution in 1-2 short sentences
Repurposing and innovating broadband communication technologies and media for clean energy development
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| sunsat_desal_1.png | 283.11 KB |
 | 36 weeks agoDon Flournoy updated this Competition Entry. |
| 36 weeks agoDon Flournoy updated this Competition Entry. |
| 36 weeks agoDon Flournoy submitted this idea. |
