Project Title:

Passively Cooled High-Temperature Superconductive Bus for Space Power Systems

10.08-3800
900209
Passively Cooled High-Temperature Superconductive Bus for Space Power Systems

Abstract:

As space systems tend toward higher power levels (10 to 100kW), the bus connecting
the power source with the spacecraft becomes a very significant power distribution
component in terms of weight, reliability, and efficiency. Present approaches use
either massive, high-voltage, conventional copper conductors or actively-cooled,
low-temperature, metallic superconducting materials. This project will build and
demonstrate a passively cooled space power distribution busbar using recently developed
high-temperature superconducting (HTS) materials. The use of HTS material takes advantage
of low-voltage, low-resistive loss characteristics similar to conventional superconductors,
while the increased operating temperatures make it feasible to eliminate the cryocooler
component by using passive radiative heart transfer to space. Compared with the alternatives,
the proposed HTS system has the benefits of being less massive (less cross-sectional
area to carry the current), being more reliable (does not require cryocoolers or
high-voltage meteor-proof enclosures), and having no requirement for additional power
conditioning equipment. This project will determine the feasibility of demonstrating
this HTS busbar approach in Phase I and perform a demonstration test using prototypical
component hardware in Phase II.
The benefits of applying High-temperature Superconductor technology with passive
cooling to the power bus are significantly lower system mass, smaller resistive power
losses, and reduced needs for power conditioning equipment ahead of the load. The
application of this technology will be fundamental to future satellites and space
platforms having higher power requirements. The technology is of commercial interest
to aerospace contractors providing space power systems.
high-temperature superconductor, electric bus, cryogenic, space power