FOREWORD The George C. Marshall Space Flight Center of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in Huntsville, Alabama, for the past 5 years has investigated the applications of space technology and of space itself to the solution of specific terrestrial energy problems. Great progress has been made in this brief period. Our pioneer work in microwave power transmission and in solar heating and cooling of residential and commercial buildings has lead to further development and progress in these areas. As a natural extension, the collection of solar energy in space using a Satellite Power System, first postulated by Dr. P. E. Glaser, has also been under careful study and review at this Center. Substantial in-house efforts combined with numerous industrial contracts succeeded in defining critical program elements, overall system and subsystem requirements, and necessary technology advancement requirements. The main thrust of MSFC's efforts is in the overall systems engineering and integration of Satellite Power Systems including supporting systems such as transportation, space construction base, and large space structures. This summary report presents our findings to date pertaining to the unprecedented number of systems, subsystems, and operational elements with complex interrelations. The many elements of the program were broken down into manageable entities and their most sensitive parameters were defined. Numerous tradeoffs between options proceeded through increasing levels of depth in order to clearly show all areas that need concentrated technology advancement efforts. A carefully structured cost and economic analysis was carried out concurrently with the generation of technical data. With the conservative assumptions concerning cost growth and findings of these efforts, construction of the SPS could be technically and economically possible toward the end of this century.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTU5NjU0Mg==