SPACE POWER ELECTRONICS - DESIGN DRIVERS

This paper addresses the wide ranging constraints and requirements tha t are part of the overall design criteria for the optimal design of sp acecraft power systems and equipment. Topics covered include operation al reliability, modularity, space environment, payload and orbit requi rements, system and equipment topologies and special design techniques employed in spacecraft power-system designs. In order to understand t he key differences between space and industrial power electronics, it is essential that those features that are unique to the space environm ent be clearly identified. In the first part of this paper those key d rivers that affect the choice of design approach are described and the remainder of the paper illustrates how these drivers affect the choic e of regulator topologies and the overall approach to power-system des ign.