The design would sit in Earth’s orbit and turn the sun’s rays into electricity before beaming the energy back to Earth.
It would provide a near-constant supply of electricity if the technology needed can be developed ahead of the 2030 guideline set by the Chinese space agency.
A test of the technology is expected to take place between 2021 and 2025 in the stratosphere before a one megawatt solar facility is spent into space by 2030, according to the state-backed Science and Technology Daily.
Future missions will be bigger and more efficient, the plans claim.
An experimental testing base has already been established in the western city of Chongqing to work on the project.
The Asian superpower has the second largest amount of state money allocated for space exploration – behind only the US.
China’s $8 billion (£6.19 billion) annual budget has seen it rapidly catch rivals such as Russia and the US in the battle for space superiority.
The country has also claimed it wants to be the first country to establish a base on the moon and says it will build it using 3D printing technology.
Officials from the Chinese space agency also said the country will return to the moon by the end of the year with the Chang’e-5 mission.
Three successive missions will further explore the barren surface and the viability of building houses there.
China is swiftly establishing a reputation as one of the forerunners in the renaissance of the space race with its continued investment in both Martian and lunar missions.
After Chang’e-5 returns lunar rocks from the surface the next mission, Chang’e-6 will be the first mission to explore the south pole of the moon.
Chang’e-7 will study the land surface, composition and space environment in a comprehensive mission, it was claimed, while Chang’e-8 will focus on technical surface analysis.
Mission number eight will likely lay the groundwork for a potential lunar base as it strives to verify the technology earmarked for the ambitious project.
China National Space Administration (CNSA) said they also have plans to go to Mars in 2020, a timeline that would likely make them the first to do so, beating out the US, Russia and the plethora of private firms looking to colonise space.
The landing on January 4 was followed by a host of discoveries and world firsts.
A panoramic image sent back to Earth by Chang’e-4 revealed the landing site in the Von Karman crater on the moon.
The Chang’e-4 lunar probe mission – named after the moon goddess in Chinese mythology – launched last December from the southwestern Xichang launch centre.
It is the second Chinese probe to land on the moon, following the Yutu rover mission in 2013.
Chang’e-4’s 360° lens captured the Yutu-2 – or Jade Rabbit 2 – rover in front of the grey moonscape and reveals the potholed surface and barren expanse of land inside the the mysterious Von Kármán crater at the lunar south pole.
Eternally immortalised tracks left from Yutu-2’s maiden voyage away from Chang’e-4 on January 4 can also be seen snaking over the untouched surface.
Source: dailymail
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