by this system provides an excellent capability for tailoring service to customer demand. Also, if solar arrays and rectennas are integrated at the ground station, this concept can supplement terrestrial PV systems with power reception at night or under bad weather conditions. 3.5. LEO-GEO Relay This concept enables a constellation of LEO Sun Tower satellites to continuously deliver power to surface stations through use of relay reflectors in Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO). The relays allow power to be delivered even when the Sun Towers are not in direct line of site with their receivers. The concept, as originally proposed in Phase I, used optical frequencies for the satellite to relay linking beam - to minimize relay size - and a high altitude Airstat Power Transponder to collect the power from the reflectors and re-transmit it an RF frequency of 2.45 or 5.8 GHz to rectennas on the ground. The Airstat would enable optical frequency transmission for the relay without penalty of beam attenuation due to atmospheric water vapor or other constituants. At the Airstat, power could be converted to RF for beamed transmission to the ground, or converted directly into an electric current for transmission via a conductive tether.
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