The current generation of communications satellites are located primarily in geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO). Over the next decade, however, a new generation of communications satellites will be built and launched, designed to provide a world-wide interconnection of portable telephones. For this mission, the satellites must be positioned in lower polar and near-polar orbits. To provide complete coverage, large numbers of satellites will be required. Because the required number of satellites decreases as the orbital altitude is increased, fewer satellites would be required if the orbit chosen were raised from low to intermediate orbit. However, in intermediate orbits, satellites encounter significant radiation due to trapped electrons and protons. Radiation tolerant solar cells may be necessary to make such satellites feasible. We analyze the amount of radiation encountered in low and intermediate polar orbits at altitudes of interest to next-generation communication satellites, calculate the expected degradation for silicon, GaAs, and InP solar cells, and show that the lifetimes can be significantly increased by use of advanced solar cells.


    Zugriff

    Zugriff über TIB

    Verfügbarkeit in meiner Bibliothek prüfen


    Exportieren, teilen und zitieren



    Titel :

    Use of Advanced Solar Cells for Commercial Communication Satellites


    Beteiligte:

    Kongress:

    First World Conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion ; 1994 ; Waikoloa, HI, United States


    Erscheinungsdatum :

    1995-03-01


    Medientyp :

    Aufsatz (Konferenz)


    Format :

    Keine Angabe


    Sprache :

    Englisch





    Adapting Commercial Satellites to Military Communication Needs

    Jocic, L. B. / Hovanessian, S. A. / Kreng, J. K. et al. | British Library Conference Proceedings | 1996