could be configured, it would limit the transmission distance to about 20 meters (90%) with a power level on the order of 50-100 W. As a result, this was not considered a very worthwhile or demonstrative experiment. However, because ASAP is capable of carrying 200 kg. it was decided to consider designs that could take full advantage of this payload mass. This led to the reference configuration shown schematically in Figure 5.1-1 for a microwave experiment (laser options will be addressed later). The demonstrator is effectively broken up into five discrete sections each occupying a single ASAP position with no one section having a mass of more than 50 kg. Each section is linked to the central service module by appropriate harness cables secured to the ASAP ring. One of the compromises that had to be made was a launch into GTO. As noted in Section 3.1, the use of ASAP is heavily over-subscribed for the few (i.e. 1 per year) launches into sun-synchronous orbits. However, ASAP is significantly underutilised for GTO missions. As a result, it was decided to scope the concept around a GTO launch because this provides the best chance of securing a full ASAP ring. 5.1.2 Concept Overview The ASAP demonstrator attempts to marry together the requirements defined in Section 4 with the need to minimise cost and complexity. The mission of the ASAP demonstrator is shown schematically in Figures 5.1-2 & -3. The mission begins shortly after the Ariane 4 has deployed its primary cargo. The thrusters on the H-10 are used to place the stage in as near a stable (3-axis) orientation as possible, although a very slow tumble is probably tolerable. The command normally issued to fire pyrotechnic devices to separate ASAP satellites is used instead to switch on the demonstrator. (All ASAP
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