China is planning to build the world's first solar power station in space to provide "inexhaustible clean energy", according to reports.
Researchers at the China Academy of Space Technology claim they are already testing the technology and intend to build the station by 2050, according to an article in the Sydney Morning Herald.
China correspondent Kirsty Needham cites the country's Science and Technology Daily as the source of the information, describing a story that ran on the newspaper's front page. It is the official newspaper of China's Ministry of Science and Technology.
The story quotes China Academy of Space Technology researcher Pang Zhihao as saying the technology would provide "an inexhaustible source of clean energy for humans" without interference from the atmosphere, cloud cover or periods of night time.
He continues on to say such a space station could reliably supply energy 99 per cent of the time, at six-times the intensity of solar farms on Earth.
The space agency is said to be currently building an experimental early model at a test site in the city of Chongqing.
It will continue testing over the next ten years with a view to begin building the station by 2030.
The concept of space-based solar power has been floated for decades, and has at times been explored by NASA.
Japan's Aerospace Exploration Agency is also on a quest to take the solar power plant into space and has made strides in advancing the technology.

One of the main quest...