Transportation, On-Orbit Construction, and End-of-Life Decommission of SPSs
摘要
The chapter mainly introduces the possible transportation modes and on-orbit assembly requirements of the SPS. The mass and volume of SPSs are enormous, and they need to be broken down into multiple modules for launch into orbit based on the transport capacity of the launch vehicle and be assembled on orbit by space assembly robots. There are several launchers suitable to launch SPS parts from ground to LEO. The Starship system would be the most prospective candidate. The mass of the SPS is huge, and using a high-thrust transport system requires a large amount of thrust and propellant for the transport from LEO to GEO. The reusable solar electric propulsion inter-orbit transporter is prospective and needed to developed as soon as possible. The on-orbit assembly of the SPS need to the support of a space assembly service platform and various space assembly robots. The space assembly service platform is mainly used for the temporary placement of assembly modules, docking maintenance of assembly robots, propellant refueling of inter-orbit transporters and assembly robots. The space assembly robots, include platform mobile robots and free maneuvering robots, have the functions of grabbing assembly modules, transporting modules to specific locations, assembling modules, and assisting in the deployment of modules. After the mission is over, the SPS needs to be disposed of in accordance with the “IADC Space Debris Mitigation Guidelines” to meet the requirements of orbit debris mitigation.