Between 1978 and 1986, the Congress authorized the Department of Energy (DoE) and NASA to jointly investigate the concept. They organized the Satellite Power System Concept Development and Evaluation Program. The study remains the most extensive performed to date (budget $50 million). Several reports were published investigating the engineering feasibility of such a project. They include:
* Resource Requirements (Critical Materials, Energy, and Land)
* Financial/Management Scenarios
* Public Acceptance
* State and Local Regulations as Applied to Satellite Power System Microwave Receiving Antenna Facilities
* Student Participation
* Potential of Laser for SBSP Power Transmission
* International Agreements
* Centralization/Decentralization
* Mapping of Exclusion Areas For Rectenna Sites
* Economic and Demographic Issues Related to Deployment
* Some Questions and Answers
* Meteorological Effects on Laser Beam Propagation and Direct Solar Pumped Lasers
* Public Outreach Experiment
* Power Transmission and Reception Technical Summary and Assessment
* Space Transportation