BACKGROUND This document reports the proceedings of a workshop on the potential impact of the proposed Satellite Power System (SPS) on astronomy. The workshop was organized by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) (operated by Battelle Memorial Institute) and held at the Battelle Seattle Conference Center on May 23 and 24, 1979. The workshop was conducted and the report prepared under the electromagnetic compatibility subtask of the environmental assessment portion of the joint NASA/DOE Satellite Power System project. While the possible effects of the SPS on radio astronomy had been discussed in an initial assessment of the electromagnetic compatibility of the SPS (PNL-2482), it was decided that it would be useful to convene a workshop to more broadly assess the effects on astronomy in general. It was felt that such a workshop would be the most effective way to involve the astronomical community as a whole in the assessment of SPS. The goal was to keep the investigation of the SPS as open a process as possible. Second, it had become apparent at both DOE and PNL that there were potential adverse effects of the SPS on optical astronomy that did not fall under the clear responsibility of any of the subtasks in the environmental assessment. Responsibility for optical effects was subsequently added to PNL1s subtask. ORGANIZATION OF THE WORKSHOP The Workshop Briefing Document (see p. 9)provides the basis for the discussions, invited contributions, and reports that appear in this proceedings. This document was prepared by P. A. Ekstrom and G. M. Stokes on the basis of the October 1978 SPS Reference System Report (DOE/ER-OO23) and on calculations they made to elucidate system features not well covered in the report. The primary objective of both the Briefing Document and the Reference System Report is to provide a set of numbers that could serve as a point of reference for discussion of SPS. It is essential to understand that the INTRODUCTION
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