Estimation of Transportation Cost of Space Solar Power Satellite Using High Power Electric Propulsion

Abstract

  The selling price of electricity depends strongly on the transportation cost of SSPS from the ground to Geostationary Earth Orbit, which greatly influences the economic feasibility of the SSPS. This study discusses the transportation cost of the SSPS by using reusable orbital transfer vehicles (OTVs) driven by high power electric propulsion. Cost analysis showed that the transportation cost of 10000 ton SSPS is around 1.27 trillion yen, which is 44% lower than that of using ground launch vehicles (GLVs) alone. The optimum specific impulse of electric propulsion is around 2660 s with the use of argon as a propellant. A sensitivity analysis showed that the innovation of reducing the initial construction costs of the GLVs and OTVs by 75% is necessary to meet the target transportation cost within 0.3 trillion yen.