Choosing Electricity from Space: UPDATER Announces Future Vision of 'Space Solar Power x Power Coloring'
UPDATER Inc. has announced a future energy infrastructure concept combining Space Based Solar Power (SBSP) with its proprietary 'Power Coloring' wireless power identification technology. By adding IDs to energy transmitted from space, they aim to create a system where specific facilities can accurately identify and receive their intended power.
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- 📰 Published: April 1, 2026 at 19:00
- 🔍 Collected: April 1, 2026 at 10:15
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UPDATER Inc. (Headquarters: Setagaya-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Eiji Oishi), a company aiming to update society through lifestyle choices, is exploring future energy infrastructure combining Space Based Solar Power (SBSP) with 'Power Coloring,' a wireless power identification technology developed through joint research with Professor Ken Umeno of the Kyoto University Graduate School of Informatics. This vision is presented as part of the 'April Dream' campaign.
This concept extends UPDATER's 'face-to-face electricity' concept into outer space. By utilizing 'Power Coloring,' which uses unique chaos communication technology to attach identifiers (IDs) to energy, it becomes possible to assign identities to the energy raining down from space. This presents the possibility of a new energy society where specific facilities can accurately identify and receive 'the electricity intended for them,' even in spaces where numerous power transmissions and receptions are intermingled.
Space Based Solar Power (SBSP) is a next-generation energy system that generates electricity in geostationary orbits at an altitude of approximately 36,000 km and transmits it wirelessly to the ground. A recent UK government report predicts that peak electricity demand will double to 119 GW by 2050. SBSP, boasting a high capacity factor of 95.7% on annual average, is expected to be a powerful candidate for an extremely stable baseload power source.
In space, there is no atmospheric attenuation or night, resulting in a power generation potential approximately 10 to 13 times that of ground-based solar power. Transportation costs, previously the biggest hurdle, are estimated to be reducible by approximately 44% through the combined use of reusable rockets like those from SpaceX and Orbital Transfer Vehicles (OTV) using electric propulsion, compared to transport by rocket alone. Currently, global development competition is accelerating, with demonstration experiments by JAXA-related organizations scheduled for fiscal year 2025 and the European Space Agency's (ESA) SOLARIS project. SBSP, which maximizes land-use efficiency and reduces reliance on large-scale energy storage infrastructure, is attracting attention as the ultimate energy source for ensuring energy security.
This concept extends UPDATER's 'face-to-face electricity' concept into outer space. By utilizing 'Power Coloring,' which uses unique chaos communication technology to attach identifiers (IDs) to energy, it becomes possible to assign identities to the energy raining down from space. This presents the possibility of a new energy society where specific facilities can accurately identify and receive 'the electricity intended for them,' even in spaces where numerous power transmissions and receptions are intermingled.
Space Based Solar Power (SBSP) is a next-generation energy system that generates electricity in geostationary orbits at an altitude of approximately 36,000 km and transmits it wirelessly to the ground. A recent UK government report predicts that peak electricity demand will double to 119 GW by 2050. SBSP, boasting a high capacity factor of 95.7% on annual average, is expected to be a powerful candidate for an extremely stable baseload power source.
In space, there is no atmospheric attenuation or night, resulting in a power generation potential approximately 10 to 13 times that of ground-based solar power. Transportation costs, previously the biggest hurdle, are estimated to be reducible by approximately 44% through the combined use of reusable rockets like those from SpaceX and Orbital Transfer Vehicles (OTV) using electric propulsion, compared to transport by rocket alone. Currently, global development competition is accelerating, with demonstration experiments by JAXA-related organizations scheduled for fiscal year 2025 and the European Space Agency's (ESA) SOLARIS project. SBSP, which maximizes land-use efficiency and reduces reliance on large-scale energy storage infrastructure, is attracting attention as the ultimate energy source for ensuring energy security.