Detailed design of a space based solar power system

Abstract

DETAILED DESIGN OF A SPACE BASED SOLAR POWER SYSTEM by Sean Joseph Mobilia In 1968, Dr. Peter Glaser (Ledbetter, 2008) first developed the idea of Space Based Solar Power (SBSP), which involved collecting solar power in orbit and then transmitting that power to the surface. However, to this day, despite a lot of discussion about SBSP, there have been no SBSP watts transmitted to the Earth's surface. The International SBSP Initiative (ISI) demonstration is being developed by students at San Jose State University along with members of the NASA Space Portal to beam SBSP watts to the Earth's surface. The ISI demonstration is being developed based on previously designed technologies and concepts to beam power to the surface using a laser. This thesis discusses the detailed design of the ISI, examining the four main system components: the laser system, the instrument bus, the acquisition, tracking and pointing/safety system, and the ground station receiver. It also discusses the design tools that were developed and utilized for this design. From these design tools, the ISI is shown to need a 9.82 m diameter ground receiver for a laser beam generated with 75 cm diameter optics. The thesis also includes preliminary analysis of the ISI system, showing the critical design points for a potential ISI system.