CASSIOPEIA Solar Power Satellite Breaking the Non-Scaling Paradigm

IAC 2018 – Bremen, Germany

Ian Cash

CASSIOPEIA SOLAR POWER SATELLITE:

• Constant Aperture – Electronic Beam Steering through 360°

• Solid-State – No Moving Parts, No Electron Tube Technology

• Integrated – All SPS Functions Modular at Sub-Wavelength Scale

• Orbital – Geosynchronous, MEO, Sun-Synchronous, Near-Space

• Phased Array – Fully Active, Retrodirective Beam Formation

BASELOAD SPACE SOLAR POWER OVERCOMING THE EARTH/SUN ROTATIONAL MIS-MATCH

Solar or Electrical Powervia Articulated Joints

Solid-State with Massive, Redundant Photovoltaics

CASSIOPeiA – Solid-State, Unique Design- Minimal Avoidable Losses- No Temporal Redundancy

360° STEERING AT RF ELEMENT SCALE

λ/4

λ/2

Cardioid Pattern:Steerable null replaces the rear reflector (necessary with other phased array designs)

360° STEERING AT RF ELEMENT SCALE

CASSIOPeiA Phased Array - Worldwide Patent-Applied

HELICALLY-ARRAYED ELEMENTS ➔ CONSTANT APERTURE

CASSIOPEIA CONSTANT APERTURE PHASED ARRAY 56X88 ELEMENTS – INDEPENDENTLY VALIDATED: U. STRATHCLYDE, UK

SUB-WAVELENGTH-SCALE MODULARITY: INTEGRATED PHOTOVOLTAICS

1, 2 or 4-sun system insolation with high-concentration PV (70 W/cm²)

Fresnel POEKöhler SOEIII-IV 4J ChipCu Spreader

Planar Quadrant (1-sun)790 kW / tonne

CASSIOPEIA SOLID-STATE REFLECTOR VARIANTS

[SSSC: Solid-State Symmetrical Concentrator – Provides uniformly concentrated, collimated illumination – Patent applied]

Planar Full (2-sun)830 kW / tonne

SSSC (×2, 4-sun)1000 kW / tonne

Stratospheric !

ELLIPTICAL SUN-SYNCHRONOUS 3HR ORBIT, 5 SPS CONSTELLATION

MODIFIED GEOSYNCHRONOUS LAPLACE-PLANE ORBIT

• Inclination modified according to area/mass ratio (4.04 m²/kg)

• “Frozen” orbit; minimal station-keeping propellant required

• Daily analemma (figure-“8”) ground track

• 1 – 2 GW (baseload, ac grid) for 1,350 – 2,000 tonnes

Thank You