On-orbit status of the High Temperature Superconductivity Space Experiment (HTSSE-II)

Abstract

The High Temperature Superconductivity Space Experiment (HTSSE-II) was successfully placed into orbit on 23 February 1999 when the Advanced Research and Global Observation Satellite (ARGOS) was launched on a Delta-II rocket into a circular polar orbit. The HTSSE-II experiment contains eight HTS components and subsystems, which were developed by various industrial and government laboratories in the 1992 to 1994 time frame and then integrated with a closed cycle refrigerator into the HTSSE-II payload during 1995. (For details about HTSSE-II components and payload, see IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory and Techniques, vol. 44, no. 7, part II, July 1996.) The cryogenic refrigerators on the HTSSE-II payload were started 5 May 1999 and the monitoring of the performance of the HTS devices began shortly thereafter. In this talk, the status of the HTSSE-II payload, cryocooler performance, and experimental device performance will be presented. Integration of a cryogenic payload onto a host satellite bus and cryocooler performance will be emphasized. Backmound and Introduction The High Temperature Superconductivity Space Experiment (HTSSE) program, sponsored and funded by the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) and initiated by the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) in 1988, focused on applications for high temperature superconductor (HTS) materials in satellite electronic components. The program was conducted in two successive phases. Detailed descriptions of the second phase (HTSSE-II) are contained in a special issue of IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques (Vol. 44, no. 7, part II, July 1996). The lead articles in that special issue contain details about the HTSSE-II payload and (c)l999 American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics or published with permission of author(s) and/or author(s)’ sponsoring organization.