Laser Power Beaming for Lunar Polar Exploration

Advances in laser technology now makes it reasonable to use a laser to beam power directly from a power source at the illuminated rim of the crater to a photovoltaic laser receiver on a rover exploring inside the permanently shadowed region. To move this technology from the conceptual design to a system that can be implemented for exploration, it will have to be demonstrated, both with ground- and space-based prototype systems. A conceptual design was done of a possible flight demonstration of laser power beaming. The design envisioned the demonstration as an addition to a proposed flight demonstration of the Kilopower space reactor, on a proposed lunar lander.