0191-9067/83 $3.00 + .00 Copyright ' 1983 SUNSAT Energy Council AN ELECTRIC PROPULSION TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM FROM LOW-EARTH ORBIT TO GEOSTATIONARY ORBIT UTILIZING BEAMED MICROWAVE POWER WILLIAM C. BROWN Microwave Power Transmission Department Raytheon Company Microwave and Power Tube Division New Products Center Foundry Avenue Waltham, Massachusetts 02254, USA PETER E. GLASER Arthur D. Little, Inc. Acorn Park Cambridge, Massachusetts 02140, USA Abstract — An electric propulsion transportation system from low-Earth orbit to geostationary orbit that is based upon microwave power transmission technology derived from studies of the Solar Power Satellite is described. The ion engines in the transportation vehicle are supplied with d.c. electrical power that is obtained from a microwave rectenna on the vehicle that collects and rectifies power from a microwave beam originating from a transmitter located on the Earth near its equator. As the transportation vehicle passes over the transmitter on each revolution, it receives power first at low duty cycle and then rapidly at longer duty cycle as it gains in altitude. The paper contains estimates of transit times from low- Earth orbit to geostationary orbit and estimates of transportation costs for a typical scenario. These estimates indicate acceptable transit times to geostationary orbit and costs that are much less than existing chemical propulsion methods. INTRODUCTION In the evaluation program of the solar power satellite conducted jointly by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, it was recognized that transportation costs represented a major deterrent to the development and deployment of the SPS. It was also recognized that the transportation system would probably consist of two parts. The first part would be a chemical propulsion stage from Earth to low-Earth, or LEO. The second part would be an electrical propulsion stage from low-Earth orbit to geostationary orbit, or GEO (1). Significant progress has been made on the first part of the system through the development and operational use of the Space Shuttle. However, aside from significant progress on ion engines, the development of the second part of the transportation system has not been pursued. The SPS concept is not alone in needing a much more economical approach to LEO to GEO transportation. This is well illustrated by the current cost of about
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