TY - GEN
T1 - SPS-ALPHA
T2 - 63rd International Astronautical Congress 2012, IAC 2012
AU - Mankins, John C.
AU - Kaya, Nobuyuki
AU - Vasile, Massimiliano
PY - 2012/12/1
Y1 - 2012/12/1
N2 - 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. Some of these early issues - particularly involving technical feasibility - were addressed by NASA's space solar power (SSP) studies and technology research in the mid-to-late 1990s. Despite this progress, ten years ago a number of key technical and economic uncertainties remained. A new solar power satellite (SPS) has recently been proposed: "SPS-ALPHA" (Solar Power Satellite by means of Arbitrarily Large Phased Array). This paper presents preliminary results from the 2011-2012 NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Phase 1 "SPS-ALPHA" project, the goal of which was to 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 development of the SPS-ALPHA conccpt.
AB - 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. Some of these early issues - particularly involving technical feasibility - were addressed by NASA's space solar power (SSP) studies and technology research in the mid-to-late 1990s. Despite this progress, ten years ago a number of key technical and economic uncertainties remained. A new solar power satellite (SPS) has recently been proposed: "SPS-ALPHA" (Solar Power Satellite by means of Arbitrarily Large Phased Array). This paper presents preliminary results from the 2011-2012 NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Phase 1 "SPS-ALPHA" project, the goal of which was to 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 development of the SPS-ALPHA conccpt.
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/84883512441
M3 - Conference contribution book
AN - SCOPUS:84883512441
SN - 9781622769797
T3 - Proceedings of the International Astronautical Congress, IAC
SP - 6950
EP - 6958
BT - 63rd International Astronautical Congress 2012, IAC 2012
CY - Paris, France
Y2 - 1 October 2012 through 5 October 2012
ER -