Feasibility study of multi-bus Tethered-SPS

S. Sasaki*, K. Tanaka, K. Higuchi, N. Okuizumi, H. Ogawa, K. Ishimura, S. Kawasaki, N. Shinohara, K. Senda, Y. Fujino

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

7 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Tethered-Solar Power Satellite (Tethered-SPS) consists of power generation/transmission panels suspended by tether wires. The most important feature of the Tethered-SPS is that it is constructed by perfectly equivalent power generation/transmission units. Each unit panel, 100 m × 95 m, is suspended by four 5 km-tether wires deployed from a bus unit. The weight and output power of the unit SPS are 42.5 MT and 2.1 MW, respectively. The engineering studies have been conducted to design the power generation/ transmission panel and to show how to deploy the panel. In addition to the engineering research, two major environmental issues, the effect of hyper-velocity impact of the debris or meteoroids and the interaction of the solar cell array with the ambient plasma, have been studied. The engineering studies have shown that the power generation/transmission panel is technically feasible using the near-term technologies. The environmental studies have shown preliminary guidelines to design the power generation/transmission panel.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationInternational Astronautical Federation - 59th International Astronautical Congress 2008, IAC 2008
Pages6014-6019
Number of pages6
Publication statusPublished - 2008
Externally publishedYes
Event59th International Astronautical Congress 2008, IAC 2008 - Glasgow, United Kingdom
Duration: 2008 Sept 292008 Oct 3

Publication series

NameInternational Astronautical Federation - 59th International Astronautical Congress 2008, IAC 2008
Volume9

Conference

Conference59th International Astronautical Congress 2008, IAC 2008
Country/TerritoryUnited Kingdom
CityGlasgow
Period08/9/2908/10/3

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Space and Planetary Science
  • Aerospace Engineering
  • Astronomy and Astrophysics

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