Energy Generation

Rapid growth in the space industry in both the commercial and government sectors is forcing new perspectives in space power generation. This is driven by volume, cost and schedule in addition to performance. Shorter, one to three-year missions, aren’t as costly and call for the utilization of COTS (commercial off-the-shelf parts), advanced high risk / high reward components, and faster and lower-cost manufacturing for providing adequate reliability assurance. We welcome discussion on how New Space provides challenges as well as opportunities in space power generation. Program managers and industry partners are invited to share their ideas and solutions to meet future needs. We will also discuss the role of government-private partnerships.

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Energy Storage

Accelerating the development timelines for new satellites – a priority for both government and commercial sectors – requires rethinking how to design and estimate the lifespans of Li-ion batteries. This is a serious undertaking, as Li-ion batteries can be life-limiting satellite components, and Li-ion battery life is  significantly affected by subtle differences in cell design, cell manufacturing, thermal conditions, duty cycle, and battery  architecture (among other variables). We invite attendees to join a discussion of data-driven alternatives to conducting extended real-time, flight-like life testing – including semi-empirical modeling, machine learning, and conducting life testing under degradation-accelerating conditions. The scope of the discussion will include forecasting remaining on-orbit life using live telemetry data.

We will further discuss how such approaches are impacted by the greater utilization of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) cells, as well as the deployment of proliferated LEO constellations.

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Power Management and Distribution (PMAD)

Costs & Benefits of a “Modular” Electrical Power System

As the Customer community moves toward requiring rapid deployments and “swarm” missions, standardization of the bus-to-payload interface is imminent. Power Systems will benefit from modules with defined interface ICDs to ensure that second sources are available, and that modularity is conducive to paralleling so that specific missions can be sized as needed.

Discussion will focus on better defining a common EPS Block function and size without dictating each internal circuit.

Notional design examples will be shown for each interface that will be the basis of a new EPS TOR.

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