from a land-based complex of beamed power transmitters [22], Such a complex viewed to scale from the North Pole, is shown in Fig. 11. The view includes four high power transmitters for LEO to GEO use. Table I shows the projected cost of electric energy from such a complex in terms of several scenarios of the stage of maturity of the system. Cost of electric energy is seen to vary from a maximum of $8.00/kWh for a single transmitter and park down $0.36/kWh for a fully mature system. The costs include 10-year linear amortization of both transmitters and rectennas costs over a ten-year period. Cost of money was not considered. Learning experience in constructing the units is reflected in reduced cost of equipment built downstream. Initial costs do not include the cost of constructing the space park. The maximum duty cycle from land-based sites is 21%. Some means of energy storage will be required if averaging power over an orbit is required. Conclusions The current status of beamed power technology at 2.45 GHz is the result of many studies and technology developments that have been carried out over more than two decades. These have resulted in a well documented set of demonstrations that provide a high degree of visibility and credibility of the technology and confidence in it. The diversified potential applications have significantly changed and broadened the technology development. From the viewpoint of applications, the current technology is being developed for long duration aircraft flight and is being considered for space transporta-
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