Shuttle 6-9 months later. Therefore, this approach minimises dependence on the Shuttle while enabling the expensive platform and payloads to be recovered. By contrast, Eureca is currently configured purely for the Shuttle. The second SFU mission, although not fully approved, would take place in the late 1990’s and carry a range of experiments, most of which are appropriate to SPS and Powersat-type activities. These experiments include the 1. Thermo-Dynamic Power Generation Experiment (TDPGE), 2. Electric Propulsion Experiment (EPEX), 3. Microwave Energy Transmission in Space (METS), 4. Space Tether Experiments (STEX), 5. Autonomous Satellite Retrieval Experiment (ASREX), 6. Laser Propulsion Experiment (LPE). Of these, the most interesting for European cooperation would be the METS experiment. As currently envisaged, the METS experiment would, (Figure 7.2-2) • Develop and verify microwave energy transmission technology including a phased array antenna design intended for operations at 2.45 GHz, • Deploy a subsatellite using a tether and transmitting a 5 kW microwave pulse to it in order to measure the pointing precision of the phased array antenna and the overall transmission efficiency, • Focus a 5 kW microwave pulse to a point a few metres above the phased array antenna to provide the high microwave power density needed to study certain space plasma phenomena, • Beam power to a large rectenna on the ground in order to obtain data on controlling a microwave beam over a long distance.
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