Electric Propulsion Demo With Power Beaming for Orbital Transfer or Lunar Transfer Vehicle____________________ Preliminary Idea The use of power beaming for space transportation can be considered for electric propulsion systems. The reason power beaming is of interest to these class of vehicles is that the power-generation system of electric propulsion vehicles is very massive: from 5 to 40 kg/kW. For a 1-megawatt (MW) transfer vehicle, this mass will be 5,000 to 40,000 kg. A rectenna for microwave power reception will have a mass of 1 to 2 kg/kW (1000 to 2000 kg for the 1 MW system). The power level of 1 MW was chosen based on the analysis of References 1 and 2. This power level is only preliminary and is subject to a new optimization based on power beaming technology. Smaller vehicles with only a 10- to 100-kW power level are also potential candidates for this demonstration. Because the power source is a major part of the total vehicle mass, using beamed energy may be a way of improving the performance of a high-power electric-propulsion system. The improvement lies in removing a large fraction of the mass of the power system from the transfer vehicle and thereby reducing its mass and the total propellant required to perform the mission. Reducing the propellant mass improves the acceleration of the vehicle and reduces the trip time. Launcher The launcher may be a Atlas, Titan or Ariane for the $800M demonstration. This test would use a power level from 10- to 100-kW. A Space Shuttle-class vehicle for the Task C demo is needed; a 100- kW to 1-MW power level will fit into the cost constraint. Power Technology The planned power technology is solar photovoltaic arrays. Customer I User The customer for the system would be SSPP. The other customers would be satellite transportation companies or other government agencies (NASA, ESA, NASDA, Russia) that need space vehicle transportation. Spacecraft Concept References 1 and 2 provide the description of the vehicle concepts. The electric transfer vehicle has ion propulsion for very high specific impulse and is the most-attractive option of electric propulsion for this system. It would use an inert gas propellant, such as xenon, krypton or argon. The vehicle concept is a low-thrust design with a flexible structure. The primary components are the power rectenna, the electric thrusters, the power conditioning and distribution, the propellant feed system and the other subsystems (attitude control, navigation, command and data handling). Organization Probably a government program for this demo. This is purely a space-based system so the environmental impact on Earth is negligible.
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