Earth-Moon L1 Forum: SSI-List
Thread: Earth-Moon L1
# 16931 bycharles radley on Dec. 19, 2002, 9:12 a.m.
Member since 2022-08-22
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useful size.
The minimum rectenna size is about a few kilometres diameter, otherwise the transmitter antennas must become
incredibly
large, and the microwave beam power intesity way high. The bigger the rectenna, the smaller the transmitter antenna
size.
The optimmum sizing is where the rectenna and the transmitter antenna are each a few km diameter.
So it is true that for small scale bootstrapping, a rectenna will not work and we are stuck with less efficient PV
arrays.
Once we get to the breakthrough size it would go like this:
A 10 km^2 rectenna generates as much as a 50 km^2 PV array. This is about the smallest useful size for a rectenna.
But we cannot bootstrap our way from small scale operations to a rectenna. They are simply not dependent on each
other, i.e. the one does not need the other, nor even benefit from the other.
I do not see the value of boostrapping from small beginnings, we can and should jump straight do a L1 SPS demo. It
is easier to sell than the bootstrapping approach because of its economic payback.