High Power Needs for Commercial Satellites

This overview paper presents estimates of the photovoltaic power systems needed on commercial communications spacecraft in the year 2000. These are developed in the form of power requirements based on extrapolation of the historical growth in communications traffic and are about 5 to 15 kW. The paper also addresses the key technology drivers in these photovoltaic systems. The importance of reducing mass in the power system is described in terms of the tradeoff with communications systems mass to maximize communications revenue. It surveys solar array components and subsystems to meet these future requirements and attempts to identify the development candidates with a large payoff potential and a high probability of successful development.