novel "hogline" antenna concept. The "hogline" combines the characteristics of the hoghorn (horn parabola) and the line-fed cylindrical horn. See Figure A-14 for pictorial concept. It is recognized by all that additional studies are required to obtain the desirable reduction in the number of rectenna elements. Possibly some combination of the approaches outlined above, based on incoming RF power density levels which are higher in the center and lower at the edge will be shown to be more effective. The other area which requires additional effort is the manufacturing methods area, which has the potential of greatly reducing the cost of each rectenna. Perhaps the greatest cost reduction will result from developing a novel, low-cost structure and construction technique. The basic area of 2 the rectenna is 78.54 km at the equator. This area in itself is sufficient to require a thorough study program to develop methods of lowering the structural and construction costs. In addition, at higher latitudes, the rectenna ground area will increase as much as 35 km , or a factor of 50 percent. (Even though the rectenna is still only intercepting the circular power beam, since the beam arrives at the Earth at greater angles at the higher latitudes, the ground footprint is changed from a circle to an ellipse.) The rectenna configuration, although in many respects has had more investigations and experiments than other areas of the SPS, offers the potential for greater change in both electronic and mechanical configurations, and thus greater cost reductions.
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