An AC Power Distribution for Satellites

A dc to ac converter for ac power distribution on-board spacecraft is described. A demonstration model was implemented with the following essential characteristics: input 50 Vdc ± 20 percent and output 50 Vac, 13 kHz, 1 kW. Higher power requirements can also be satisfied by the design. The ac output has such characteristics as to be able to feed low-voltage transformer-rectifier type power supplies, like those used for up-converters, multipliers, intermediate frequency (IF) amplifiers, etc., as well as high-voltage power supplies used for travelling wave tubes (TWT´s), Klystrons, etc. Design milestones and approaches are discussed, and significant circuit details, components used protection techniques, and techniques to minimize electromagnetic interference (EMI) are presented. Input and output characteristics related to high-voltage and low-voltage dc loads are given.