In 1968, engineer Peter Glaser first proposed using space-based solar power. His plan involved 50 kilometers of solar panels, hundreds of astronauts and more than $1 trillion.

Now, the National Security Space Office (NSSO) is warming to the idea of building solar-power-generating satellites. The NSSO this week released a report that recommends that the U.S. government spend $10 billion over the next 10 years to build a test satellite that would beam 10 megawatts of electric power down to Earth.

Kilometer-sized solar panel clusters would collect sunlight and then beam the power down to Earth in the form of microwaves or lasers, where it would be collected in antennas on the ground and converted to electricity.

Sure, ground-based solar panels may be more economical, but they depend on weather and daylight. Unlike solar panels on earth, solar panels in space could collect the sun's rays day and night, even during cloudy conditions.

The proposed plan would face some challenges. Lower-cost space launches are needed for the satellite that would weigh about 3,000 tons – more than 10 times that of the International Space Station. It could require more than a hundred rocket launches, while the United States currently launches less than 15 rockets a year.

Despite the odds, U.S. Marine Corps lieutenant colonel Paul Damphousse of the NSSO still maintains a sunny outlook and believes they can overcome the hurdles.

Compared to the $460 billion price tag of the war in Iraq, or compared to the 1970s-era cost of $1 trillion, $10 billion sounds dirt-cheap.