Comment by Dylan16807
6 months ago
> Just transmit laser power down fiber optics at that point.
How does that work? You can only get the glass so clear, so you're going to lose all the energy. There's no equivalent to cranking the voltage to increase range.
https://www.darpa.mil/news/2025/darpa-program-distance-recor...
It works like that, and I was sending 10w down fiber optics back when I worked in solar panel manufacturing.
10w going a small distance, sure.
This page doesn't say how much light was lost over the 5 miles. So I'll put it this way: If you lose just 1% every 5 miles, then by the time you go 2000 miles across an ocean you've lost 98% of your power.