Some results of a study of the effectiveness and cost of a laser-powered lightcraft vehicle system

David H. Froning; Leon McKinney; Franklin B. Mead Jr.; C. William Larson; Alan Pike; Victor H. Hasson

doi:10.1117/12.547321

20 September 2004 Some results of a study of the effectiveness and cost of a laser-powered lightcraft vehicle system

David H. Froning, Leon McKinney, Franklin B. Mead Jr., C. William Larson, Alan Pike, Victor H. Hasson

Proceedings Volume 5448, High-Power Laser Ablation V; (2004) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.547321
Event: High-Power Laser Ablation, 2004, Taos, New Mexico, United States

Abstract

Laser-powered lightcraft systems that deliver microsatellites to low earth orbit have been studied for the Air Force Research Laboratory. One result of this study has been discovery of the significant influence of laser wavelength on the power lost during laser beam propagation through Earth’s atmosphere and in space. Here, energy and power losses in the laser beam are extremely sensitive to wavelength for earth-to-orbit missions. And this significantly affects the amount of mass that can be placed into orbit for a given maximum amount of radiated power from a ground-based laser.

Citation Download Citation

David H. Froning, Leon McKinney, Franklin B. Mead Jr., C. William Larson, Alan Pike, and Victor H. Hasson "Some results of a study of the effectiveness and cost of a laser-powered lightcraft vehicle system", Proc. SPIE 5448, High-Power Laser Ablation V, (20 September 2004); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.547321

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