Space power alternatives for laser radar sensor system

The author identifies seven possible laser radar sensor power systems and briefly describes their performance and operating characteristics. These systems are the Ni-Cd battery, Ni-H/sub 2/ battery, Na-S battery, LiSO/sub 2/Cl/sub 2/ battery, LiAl-FeS/sub 2/ battery, H/sub 2//O/sub 2/ fuel cell, and inertial flywheel-generator. These systems encompassed a current or projected specific energy range from 15.0 to 100 Wh/lb. Although total mass is one of the most important system parameters, other criteria such as development risk, technology readiness, and survivability/hardness capability are equally important factors. Therefore, in order to arrive at a meaningful basis for comparison and to aid in system selection, a figure-of-merit (FOM) is established. Scoring weighting factors are utilized to further quantify the results.<>