Space Applications of High-Power Microwaves

Abstract

Schemes have been suggested for transferring energy from Earth-to-space, space-to-Earth, and space-to-space using high-power microwave (HPM) beams. All use power beaming. Microwave beams have been studied for propelling spacecraft for launch to orbit, orbit raising, launch from orbit into interplanetary and interstellar space, and deployment of large space structures. The microwave thermal rocket, called the "microwave thermal thruster," is a reusable single-stage vehicle that uses an HPM beam to provide power to a heat-exchanger propulsion system, with double the specific impulse of conventional rockets. Orbital missions include orbit raising and space solar power. Microwave-propelled sails are a new class of spacecraft that promises to revolutionize future space probes. Experiments and simulations have verified that sails riding beams can be stable on the beam for conical sail shapes. Beam-driven sail flights have now demonstrated the basic features of the beam-driven propulsion. Beams can also carry angular momentum and communicate it to a sail to help control it in flight. An early mission for microwave space propulsion is dramatically shortening the time needed for sails to escape Earth's orbit. A number of missions for beamdriven sails have been quantified for high-velocity mapping of the outer solar system, Kuiper Belt, the Heliopause, and the penultimate interstellar precursor mission. For large HPM systems at fixed effective isotropic radiated power, minimum capital cost is achieved when the cost is equally divided between antenna gain and radiated power. This is a driver when considering design of power-beaming systems such as interstellar Beacons, which the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence is searching for. Much of the technical means for these applications are already in hand. Microwave and millimeter-wave array antennas are already in use for astronomy; sources at high frequencies are being developed for fusion and the military. Development of high-power arrays is needed. A synergistic way to develop a space power-beaming infrastructure is incremental buildup, addressing lower power applications first, and then upgrading.Index Terms-Microwave antenna arrays, microwave oscillators, microwave power amplifiers, microwave power transmission, Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI), space solar power (SSP), space-vehicle propulsion.

Compression and Radiation of High-Power Short Rf Pulses. I. Energy Accumulation in Direct-Flow Waveguide Compressors

“…Here, E (g, t) and H (g, t) are electric and magnetic fields, dV = dydz, P s j (t) , j = 1, 2 and P i 1 (t) are given by (5), and the P i×s 1…”

“…Active compressors achieve this by accumulating the energy of input pulse for a relatively long period of time and then exhausting the accumulated energy in the form of a short high-power output. Efficient microwave pulse compression is needed in several fields of science and engineering: Compressors are used as components of particle accelerators [1,2] and radars [3], and utilized in data transmission [4], energy transfer [5], plasma heating [6], and biological studies [7].…”

Design and Analysis of Efficient Pulse-driven Magnetically Coupled Resonant Wireless Power Transmission System

“…What's even worse, the poor directionality is difficult to be solved [14][15]. Presently microwave transmission has shown a good application prospect in wireless charging [16][17], Solar Power Satellite (SPS), Space Solar Power (SSP) [18][19][20], and so on. Laser transmission has the advantages of better directional property, small scatter and bigger power carrying capability, and so on.…”

Design and Characterization of X-Band Sheet Beam Klystron Cavity

“…Thus higher power is achieved at reduced input voltage. This futuristic device has wide range of applications like directed energy weapons, linear accelerators and muon accelerators [1][2][3]. Despite many advantage, there are several critical issues in this device such as high aspect ratio sheet electron beam generation and need for design with high transmission efficiency.…”