A Feasibility Study of Power Supplying Satellite (PSS) H. MATSUMOTO* N. KAYA, S. KINAI.**, T. FUJIWARA,***, J. KOCHIYAMA, **** A feasibility study is given on a new type of an orbiting power station which supplies a power of the order of 100 kW to orbiting customers (satellites or space stations). We call the orbiting power station "PSS" which stands for Power Supplying Satellite. The PSS is composed of three main parts; a power generator, a power transmitter and a satellite bus system. The unique feature of the proposed PSS is the use of a module which has a solarcell array on one side and a microwave transmitting antenna array driven by FET- amplifiers on the other side. These autonomous transmitter modules are used to form a large disc-structured active phased array of 40 m diameter which transmits a 100 kW energy beam of 24 GHz microwave. The frequency of 24 GHz is chosen to reduce the size and volume of the transmitting antenna. DC electric power generated by the solar cells on the top plane of the module is fed directly to the semiconductor FET amplifiers located under the solarcells, converted to 24 GHz microwave, and then transmitted from the antenna arrays on the bottom plane of the module. These autonomous solar-cell-transmitter modules make it possible to eliminate the rotary joint and the DC power collecting network from the design of the PSS and SPS system. The PSS provides the following advantages; (1) availability of high power electricity to orbiting customer satellites or stations; (2) reduction of weight and volume of power system on customer space vehicles; and (3) technical go-forward for the future SPS. Introduction Man's prosperity has been possible by expansion of four quantities; the area of habitation, materials and food, population, and energy. It is obvious that all of the four quantities will eventually (but not in the far future) reach their limit of availability and thereby choke the future of mankind. From this point of view, space civilization is inevitable in the 21st century to guarantee ever-increasing activities of mankind. The Solar Power Station (SPS) proposed by P. Glaser in 1968 was originally supposed to become a rescue for the lack of electric power demand on our mother planet * Radio Atmospheric Science Center, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan **Dept, of Instrumentation, Kobe University, Kobe, Japan *** Space Development Section, Nissan Motor Co., Tokyo, Japan **** Rocket System Corp., Tokyo, Japan
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