Exploring the feasibility of providing electrical power to remote bases via space-based solar power satellites

Abstract

Delivering electrical power to remote military bases can be an expensive and dangerous task. The idea of delivering renewable power to remote military bases through space-based solar power has existed for many years, but has not yet materialized. This research sought to examine existing studies and leverage their findings to determine a systems architecture and subsequent design alternatives that could deliver space-based solar power to a military base in Afghanistan. Three design alternatives were created and were based on the defined systems architecture. The system attributes vary by design alternative, to include transmitter size, rectenna size, power transmitted, mass of components, and number of launches required. The design attributes were weighted accordingly to stakeholder objectives. In turn, the entire design alternative was given a Measure of Effectiveness score. This score was used to determine the most effective design alternative among the designs presented in this research. The result is one of the three designs conclusively meets stakeholder requirements and is more effective than the others, yet further research should be done to improve the design and address other concerns, such as the extremely high cost of the system and the potential environmental and safety issues of the high-power microwave beam.