As far as legislative moments go, the passage of a minor amendment to an innocuous US House resolution on Wednesday was not exactly groundbreaking. But for space exploration enthusiasts, the amendment offered by US Rep. Kevin Mullin, D-Calif., was kind of a big deal. That’s because, for the first time since the 1970s, the idea of space-based solar power has been addressed legislatively by the US Congress. “Although the technology to gather solar energy in space and send it to the surface as electricity is not yet commercially viable at scale, we already know from early research that it is possible,” Mullin said during a meeting of the Science, Space, and Technology Committee on Wednesday. Mullin was seeking to amend House Resolution 2988, a bill instructing NASA and the US Department of Energy to collaborate on key areas of research and development, including propulsion, artificial intelligence, astrophysics, Earth science, and quantum computing. He sought to add space-based solar power to the list. The amendment passed overwhelmingly by a bipartisan committee vote. In his remarks, Mullin noted that Europe, Japan, China, and the United Kingdom are all studying the technology and considering in-space demonstrations.

Full story : For the first time in decades, Congress seems interested in space-based solar power.