TO OBTAIN SPACECRAFT POWER LEVELS GREATER THAN ABOUT 7 KW FOR GEOSYNCHRONOUS ORBIT, IT WILL BE NECESSARY TO REDUCE THE WEIGHT OF THE POWER SYSTEM, PARTICULARLY THE BATTERIES WHICH ARE ESPECIALLY HEAVY.

TO OBTAIN SPACECRAFT POWER LEVELS GREATER THAN ABOUT 7 KW FOR GEOSYNCHRONOUS ORBIT, IT WILL BE NECESSARY TO REDUCE THE WEIGHT OF THE POWER SYSTEM, PARTICULARLY THE BATTERIES WHICH ARE ESPECIALLY HEAVY. IT IS NOT CLEAR AT THIS TIME WHICH BATTERY SYSTEM IS BEST SUITED TO THE NEEDS OF AN ADVANCED ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEM FOR SATELLITES, FOR ONLY REASONABLY WELL-DEVELOPED SYSTEMS HAVE BEEN CONSIDERED FOR THIS PURPOSE TO DATE. THUS, IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT ALL CANDIDATE ADVANCED BATTERY SYSTEMS BE IDENTIFIED AND ANALYZED TO DETERMINE WHICH ONES ARE THE MOST WORTHWHILE FOR DEVELOPMENT. THE GENERAL OBJECTIVE OF THIS WORK IS TO PERFORM STUDIES WHICH WILL IDENTIFY THOSE ADVANCED RECHARGEABLE BATTERY SYSTEMS WHICH HAVE THE BEST POTENTIAL FOR MEETING FUTURE SATELLITE REQUIREMENTS, AND ARE MOST SUITED FOR DEVELOPMENT TO MEET AIR FORCE NEEDS.