CURRENT STATUS, ARCHITECTURE, AND FUTURE TECHNOLOGIES FOR THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION ELECTRIC-POWER SYSTEM

The Electric Power System (EPS) being built for the International Spac e Station has undergone several significant changes over the last year , as major design decisions have been made for the overall station. Wh ile the basic topology and system elements have remained the same, the re are important differences in connectivity, assembly sequence, and s tart-up. The key drivers for these changes in architecture have been t he goal to simplify verification, and most significantly, the introduc tion of extensive Russian participation in the program. Having the Rus sians join the international community in this project has resulted in an expanded station size, larger crew, and almost doubled the observa ble surface of the Earth covered by the station. For the power system it has meant additional interfaces for power transfer, and new challen ges for solar tracking at the higher inclination orbit. This paper rev iews the current architecture and emphasizes the new features that hav e evolved, as the design for the new, larger station has developed. Ad ditionally, the possible application of developing technology to the s tation, and other future missions is considered.