7. INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION OVERVIEW This section briefly summarises the current activities in the US. Japan, and the Commonwealth of Independent States relating to Powersat-type experiments. In particular, the intent of this discussion is purely to highlight areas of common interest that could be appropriate for participation or cooperation in near-term technology demonstrators. A more complete overview of studies and technological activities in these countries and other countries can be found in the Proceedings of the Second International Symposium. SPS '91 Power From Space. (Paris/Gif-Sur-Yvette, 27-30 August 1991). 7.1 With the United States of America As is well known, the idea of Solar Power Satellites (space-to-ground) and Powersats (space-to-space) were first proposed in the US by Dr. Peter Glaser in 1968. His proposal eventually led to a number of ground-based technical demonstrations and studies. For example, in 1975 the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory performed the Goldstone Experiment where some 30 kW of microwave energy was beamed to a rectenna situated nearly 2 km away. In the 1979-1981 period. NASA and the US Department of Energy jointly studied the prospects for deploying a large number of SPS platforms each able to supply some 5 GW of power to Earth. Although the SPS was the ultimate driver for these activities, it is important to note that each study recognised that meeting such long-term goals would necessitate smaller-scale precursor activities, including Powersat-type systems for augmenting the Shuttle and space stations in LEO. This step-by-step or terracing strategy (Figure 7.1-1) is as valid today as it was then. After 1981, the recognition that building SPS systems was likely to be
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