0883-6272/86 + .00 Copyright ® 1986 SUN SAT Energy Council SPS REVISITED RICHARD DICKINSON Jet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of Technology Pasadena, California 91109, USA INTRODUCTION Twenty years ago, in 1964, Bill Brown presented some of his initial results on beamed microwave power to this same organization, the IEEE International Convention (1). Sixteen years ago Dr. Glaser published his concept (4) of the satellite power system (SPS), which embodied the concept of wireless power transmission in a scheme for importing solar power from geosynchronous orbit (GEO) to Earth. Four years ago the Department of Energy completed its evaluation of the SPS concept (5). Today we will revisit the SPS concept. SPS CONCEPT There should be no doubts that, while it is still only a concept, the SPS is technically viable. All of the critical elements have been demonstrated in laboratory or field tests, such as the 54% end-to-end, dc-to-dc transmission efficiency (3) of power from a microwave oven magnetron to a rectenna array or the transmission of 34 kW over 1.6 km at Goldstone, California, in 1975 (2). The construction and erecting of large structures in space, solar to electric power conversion in space, transmission of microwaves from space and near-routine transportation to space have all been demonstrated. Thus, the concept is technically viable, but it is not yet a commercially attractive enterprise. The economies of scale and the minimum sizes for useful amounts of power conversion are such that the SPS requires a multi-GW satellite in GEO orbit before the SPS can begin to generate a stream of revenue to pay back the investors. Only a massive government subsidy can provide the financing necessary for such a concept. A revised economic concept for attaining an SPS program is needed, since the basic technology is already available. This special session on the SPS was organized by W. C. Brown, MTT-S Representative to the IEEE Energy Committee, and J. F. Lindsay, AP-S Representative to the IEEE Energy Committee. Peter Glaser of A. D. Little, Inc. will present a reassessment of the SPS. Bill Brown of Raytheon Co. will discuss recent advances in key microwave components, Dickey Arndt of Johnson Space Center will report on applications of low-Earth-orbit power transmission, and John Osepchuk of Raytheon Co. will discuss environmental issues.
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