Caltech's wildly ambitious space solar project, buoyed by a massive hundred-million-dollar donation, is preparing to launch its first prototypes into orbit. These cutting-edge ultralight structures will collect, convert and wirelessly send energy.

It's obvious whyyou'd want to harvest solar energy in space: 24-hour access to virtually limitless solar energy without so much as an atmosphere in the way, let alone weather or obstructions. The energy potential in space is some eight times better per square meter of solar panel than here on Earth. The problem has always been how you'd do it – and indeed, how much it'll cost. The costs involved in launching, assembling and maintaining equipment in space are astronomical. The scale of a worthwhile space solar installation is mind-boggling, and unprecedented problems present enormous hurdles at every step of the journey.

Undeterred, and indeed energized by the challenge, a team at Caltech has been working on the Space Solar Power Project for nearly a decade now. It launched with an incredible endowment of more than US$100 million from Irvine Company Chairman Donald Bren back in 2013 – a donation that has only recently been disclosed – and was boosted to the tune of US$17.5 million by Northrop Grumman in 2015.