systems. The polar and very high latitude regions of the earth, on the other hand, are almost devoid of human activity and animal life and therefore might make suitable locations for rectennas if a means of transportation of the energy to the consumer were available. Finally, the geostationary orbit itself is the ideal orbit for communication and other highly electronic sensitive satellites. The prospect of the high power SPS parked close to such satellites has given rise to concern about radio frequency interference. The polar elliptic orbit with apogee over the pole has the same advantage as the geostationary orbit, namely the ability to ‘view' the same area on the earth for long periods of time. As the satellite hangs near apogee the polar and high latitude regions remain in view as the earth rotates. This feature has been exploited most dramatically by the Dynamics Explorer Satellite, DE-1, that has provided excellent images of the entire northern hemisphere auroral zone. The foregoing arguments suggest that the polar elliptic orbit might be an appropriate orbit for the SPS. We now examine this in more detail. The Polar Orbit SPS We propose placing the solar power satellite in a polar elliptic orbit with apogee over the pole and placing the rectenna in the polar or high latitude regions of the earth. Fig. 1 illustrates this concept. The long distance between the rectenna and the user then requires the use of energy storage and this suggests the conversion of the electrical energy at the rectenna to hydrogen for shipment to the populated areas of the globe. Placing apogee above the pole allows the polar SPS (which we will call PSPS) to spend most of its orbital period above the pole and thereby keep the high latitude rectenna in view, even as the earth rotates under the satellite. In this way much of the attractiveness of the geostationary orbit is retained.
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