Mission duration and power degradation in photovoltaic power subsystems for military spacecraft

Several of the more widely discussed orbits for military missions and how their environments affect the sizing of advanced planar solar arrays are examined. Also provided are sizing guidelines as they are affected by years in orbit or mission duration, so that planners can trade off variables on a preliminary basis as an integral portion of their decision process. The model system masses are formulated on 1990-5 array technology for maximizing survivability in natural hostile environments. The findings of the analyses and computer coding show that geosynchronous orbit is the most benign from the standpoints of encountering high radiation damage levels, space debris, meteoroids, plasma interaction, and eclipse times.