RF Ion Thruster Research Articles

Advanced Technology for Direct TV-Broadcasting Satellites

This paper presents a survey of some of the technological developments carried out in W. Germany over the past few years in order to prepare for the development of a direct TV-broadcasting satellite (TVBS). Specific requirements for operational TVBS such as high pointing accuracy (0.05 deg), large solar arrays (4-10 kW), highpower traveling wavetubes (TWT's), large antennas, etc., need advanced technology to allow for an efficient spacecraft design in the 1000 kg BoM class (beginning of mission). Technical features as well as the development status are described for the following systems: the advanced lightweight ULP (ultra-lightweight panels) solar array, the unified propulsion system (UPS), and the electrical thruster system for orbit control RITA-1 and 2 (radio-frequency ion thruster assembly).