Use
How power is spent beyond Earth. Computation and power budgeting, spacecraft power systems, in-space grids and microgrids, refueling and ISRU propellant.
The load side of the power budget
Every watt generated in space must be consumed, stored, or rejected as heat. The load side of a spacecraft power budget includes propulsion (electric thrusters that draw kilowatts to tens of kilowatts), computation (radiation-hardened processors whose power scales with data rate and processing demand), thermal control (heaters and pumps that keep systems within operating range), and life support on crewed missions. In-situ resource utilization adds a new class of loads: regolith processors, water electrolyzers, and methane synthesis reactors that could consume megawatt-hours of energy to produce propellant from local materials.
The daily analysis stream covers the technologies and missions that define the demand side of space power, from the power budget of nuclear electric propulsion to the energy cost of manufacturing propellant on Mars.