Space Transfer-Vehicle Concept For Deploying Solar - Power Satellites

摘要

A 200-kW-class solar - electric orbital transfer - vehicle concept, Swarm, for deploying elements of future, very large solar - power satellites, has been developed. Swarm is preintegrated with its payload on the ground and delivered into low Earth orbit aboard a reusable launch vehicle. The total mass initially deployed to an equatorial low Earth orbit is assumed to be 40 metric tons (mt)-divided roughly evently between the transfer vehicle and its payload. The Swarm vehicle ferries the payload to geostationary orbit 9GEO) in approx - imately 116 days using low - thrust Krypton thrusters powered by six large solar arrays.