because the US would not need to pay the other costs associated with the alternative of upgrading the power level of Freedom. These other costs are associated with : • The extra solar arrays and batteries. • The extra propellant, ♦ Assembly, integration and testing of the elements. • Launch vehicle integration costs, • Management overheads, • Servicing and maintenance activities on Freedom, etc. How much these contributions would add to the costs is not known. However, as an approximate guide, for most space missions the launch costs consume about one-half to one-third of the cost of each mission. Therefore, the actual total savings over 10 years could be expected to be as follows: Case I: Total Savings Over 10 Years (Propellantonly) Space Shuttle 2000-3000 MAU Ariane 5/ATV 1360-2040 MAU Case 2: Total Savings Over 10 Years (Propellant & Battery) Space Shuttle 2704-4056 MAU Ariane 5/ATV 1838-2757 MAU Therefore, based on actual Freedom data, it would appear that if a Powersat could be developed and operated over a 10-year period for a total cost of somewhere between 2,000-4,000 MAU, this might be an attractive alternative to adding extra solar panels to Freedom as currently planned.
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