Satellite Solar Power Station (SSPS) and the Power Relay Satellite (PRS) were compared with current and future terrestrial power generation and transmission systems to determine their technical and economic suitability for meeting power demands in the period of 1990 and beyond while meeting ever increasing environmental and social constraints. The principal objective of this study was to achieve increased understanding of the economic and technical aspects of space-based power generation and transmission systems and to determine whether -- or under what circumstances -- they may make significant contributions to meeting future energy demands. Of particular interest to NASA has been the identification of key problem areas of operational power systems in orbit and the technologies required to resolve them, the development of cost estimates of the required technologies and the identification of the social and environmental impacts arising from the operation of the systems. By direction, the emphasis of the study has been on the identification and delineation of problem areas and technology requirements rather than on in-depth problem solutions. This study has been prepared for NASA, the Marshall Space Flight Center under contract NAS8-31308. The prime contractor was.ECON; subcontractors to ECON were Arthur D. Little, Inc. with Dr. Peter E. Glaser as study manager, the Grumman Aerospace Corporation with Mr. C. Allan Nathan as study manager, and the Raytheon Company with Mr. Andrew E. Edwards, Jr. as study manager.
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