Mission analyses indicate there are several near-term interplanetary missions that cannot be performed with any degree of sophistication without electric propulsion. Cost and performance benefits are suggested when this same technology is included in the Shuttle-based earth-orbital transportation system. Specific earth-orbital payload programs gain from increased weight allowances, decreased costs through simplification, and reduced numbers of spacecraft due to on-orbit servicing. More ambitious mission planners looking toward space industrialization will find uses ranging from GSO debris clearance to a versatile support element for a multipurpose manned space station.
The ubiquitous solar electric propulsion stage
International Astronautical Congress ; 1976 ; Anaheim, CA
1976-10-01
Conference paper
No indication
English
Solar Electric Propulsion Stage design
AIAA | 1973
|Solar Electric Propulsion Stage design
NTRS | 1973
|