The innovative advanced concept proposed here is a fundamentally new approach to enable the first technically feasible, economically viable and programmatically executable solar power satellite (SPS):…

The innovative advanced concept proposed here is a fundamentally new approach to enable the first technically feasible, economically viable and programmatically executable solar power satellite (SPS): 'SPS-alpha', a hyper-modular SPS by means of an arbitrarily large phased array (alpha). The vision of delivering solar power to earth from platforms in space has been known for decades. However, early SPS architectures were technically complex and unlikely to prove economically viable. There were several reasons: low technology maturity; excessive mass, due in part to the need for huge, high-voltage power management and distribution; the cost of developing a monolithic SPS much larger than the international space station (ISS); the need for 100S of astronauts and 1000S of robots for SPS construction in space factories at various orbits, and others. Some of these early issues, particularly regarding technical feasibility, were addressed by NASA's space solar power (SSP) studies and technology research in the mid-to-late 1990S. However, ten years ago a number of key technical and economic uncertainties remained. The concept proposed here - SPS-alpha - is fundamentally different from both current satellites and past SPS concepts in several critical ways. SPS-alpha is a biologically inspired concept: in a manner analogous to a hive of bees, a large number of individual modules (each individually "intelligent") will physically assemble to form a single enormous satellite. IT involves several system segments: (1) an approximately one kilometer diameter RF aperture composed of tens of 1,000S of modular elements (none more THAN150 KG in mass), each incorporating locally powered and controlled WPT elements; (2) a large, non-rotating structural framework connected to the WPT array; and, (3) numerous autonomously pointing thin-film reflectors, attached to the structural framework, which redirect and concentrate incoming sunlight onto the RF aperture. To deliver energy to earth, SPS-alpha would typically be based in a geostationary earth orbit (GEO), where IT would intercept sunlight using an collection of individual thin-film mirrors, convert that sunlight across a large RF aperture into a coherent microwave beam and transmit IT to targets on earth. SPS-alpha might also be based in earth orbit, or elsewhere, such as at earth-moon libration points, lunar orbit, sun-earth libration points, mars orbit, and would deliver abundant and affordable solar power to markets on earth or to enable ambitious new missions of space exploration and development. This project will establish the technical and economic viability of the SPS-alpha concept to an early TRL 3 "analytical proof-of-concept" and provide a framework for further study and technology development. The objectives of this innovative advanced concept project are to: (1) conduct an initial end-to-end systems analysis of the SPS-alpha concept in order to determine its technical feasibility; (2) identify and assess in greater detail the key technology challenges inherent in the architecture (including figures of merit for each critical technology area); (3) conduct an initial evaluation of the economic viability of the concept (as a function of key performance parameters); and, (4) define a preliminary roadmap for the further research and development of the SPS-alpha concept.