Microwave Energy Transmission Experiment HIROSHI MATSUMOTO, NOBUYUKI KAYA & MAKOTO NAGATOMO Summary A METS (Microwave Energy Transmission in Space) experiment using the future Space Flyer Unit is proposed. Two fundamental areas will be addressed: one is the development of a control system for the microwave beam enabling accurate pointing to the energy receiver; the other problem concerns the study of nonlinear propagation effects of the microwave beam as it passes through space plasmas as well as the effects of the microwave beam on the plasma environment. Introduction Space development has progressed from simple exploration to active utilization of space in such areas as crystal growth, pharmaceuticals and creation/processing of new materials. As this phase increases, power demands are expected to increase exponentially. At the same time, energy demands on Earth will also increase in the next century due to increased pollution and economic growth. The Solar Power Satellite (SPS) was proposed by P. Glaser in 1968 [1] to meet both space-based and earth-based power needs. The concept was examined in detail by NASA and DOE in 1980 [2]. The SPS generates electric power on the order of several hundreds to thousands of megawatts using solar cells of sizeable area, then transmits the generated power via a microwave beam to the receiving station. The establishment of microwave energy transmission technology is the key point. Even in the near future before the SPS is built it may be used for energy transmission in space on a much smaller scale, such as from an intermediate scale energy station to other spacecraft. It is also useful for many other ground-based applications, such as to provide a wireless energy supply to stratospheric aircraft. Since the environment of space is not a simple vacuum but is filled with plasma, propagation characteristics of the microwave beam are not as simple as in vacuum. The high intensity of the (microwave) electric field modifies the plasma medium in such a way that the beam parts into filaments [3-10]. This will be a serious problem for long-distance energy transmission since the propagation path is thus modified. In addition, nonlinear interactions will lead to plasma heating [11] and generation of plasma waves [12]. Such nonlinear interactions have not yet been studied in detail and no quantitative predictions are available. Much experimental as well as theoretical work is necessary. Hiroshi Matsumoto, Radio Atmospheric Science Center, Kyoto University, Uji, Kyoto 611, Japan; Nobuyuki Kaya, Dept, of Instrumentation, Kobe University, Rokkodai, Nada, Kobe 657, Japan; Makoto Nagatomo, Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS), Sagamihara, Kanagawa 229, Japan.
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