Architecture analysis of wireless power transmission for lunar outposts

Abstract : To continue scientific research on the moon, largely abandoned since the Apollo era, humanity must establish a permanent outpost. This research has narrowed the lunar base sites to the polar regions as these sites offer the highest scientific value. The overarching problem is how to supply continuous power to lunar bases located at the poles. This study focuses on the feasibility and architectural analysis of wireless power transfer to lunar polar outposts. Two wireless power transfer methods, microwave and laser, were integrated into satellite constellations and the overall system architecture. The two architectures were modeled, analyzed, and evaluated to determine which method is more feasible. The results showed that while both the use of microwave and laser transmission were feasible, the microwave approach produced large transmitter and receiver antenna sizes driving unreasonable cost. The laser transmission approach showed less end-to-end efficiency and therefore higher per satellite cost but resulted in a lower total system cost and was the more feasible architecture.