1. Satellite Servicing Mission(s) (Ted Talay)
2. ISRU Lunar Mission (Paul Spudis/Bill Rothschild)
3. Space Based Solar Power Demo (Bill Rothschild)
4. Solar Electric Propulsion Vehicle (Larry Schmidt/Sonny White)
5. Propellant Depot (Wally Twichell)
6. Multi-Mission Space Exploration Vehicle (Mark Holderman)
Solar Electric Propulsion – $500 million project
Perform high power SEP demonstration
30kW solar power
Battery augmentation to facilitate 200kW short duration
Total system delta-v: ~15km/sec
System will demonstrate two high power EP engine technologies: VASIMR & Hall_or_ION
Demo will also make use of mini free flying inspection spacecraft
Utilize emerging advanced solar technologies such as DARPA’s FAST or SOLAROSA.
* Vehicle can launch to LEO on Falcon 9
* Vehicle can achieve Mars orbit
* Delta-v split between two EP technologies
ISRU Lunar Water Processing Demo Mission for 2016
Find, extract, process, and store water on the Moon ($900 million mission targeting 2016)
Single launch on an Atlas V-551
6,420 kg Lunar Lander (GLOW)
Landing near a crater at the Moon’s North Pole
Prospecting rover in crater where water ice exists
Dig lunar feed stock and haul to processing plant
Demonstrate water extraction and storage
Key Demo Technologies for the water use on the moon mission
Precision navigation and landing near the crater rim at the Moon’s North Pole
Pair of Comm/Nav Sats in lunar orbit
High power PV array
Deployable Rover; rechargeable batteries
Prospecting sensor suite to find water
Diggers suitable for lunar regolith
ISRU processing plant
Water storage on the Moon
Space Based Solar Power Beaming Demo – $1.3 billion project
Proof of concept for wireless power transmission from space
Significant power levels > 25 kW to users
Safe and controllable power beaming from space to ground (Microwave)
Growth paths for exploration, military and commercial applications
Proof of concept for Ground to Space Laser power beaming
Closely coupled with solar power concept
Growth paths for space to space power beaming applications
Key Demo Technologies for solar power beaming demo
Retrodirective phase lock beam control
High power solid state laser
Inflatable solar power concentrator
Solar dynamic power generator
High energy flywheels
High efficiency microwave converters
Large deployable rectenna farm
Fuel Depot at GEO – $150 million for phase 1 by 2016
Provide storage for satellite pressurants and propellants in orbit in close proximity to multiple users.
Provide docking and replenishment service to robotic satellite servicing vehicle.
Enable extension of service life to on orbit satellites.
Enable multiple servicing missions by robotic servicing vehicle.
Reduce cost of satellite servicing missions.
Multi-Mission Space Exploration Vehicle – NautilusX $3.7 billion 5 year project with 2020 target
Hobbyspace summarizes the NautilusX multimission vehicle proposal
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Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
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