During the past several years, a number of military space mission studies have concluded with interesting new information on the future needs and directions of military spacecraft power systems. In all cases, the trend to higher power level, for continuous as well as pulsed requirements, is clear. Although precise dates are impossible to define at this time, military spacecraft of the next twenty years will require steady state electrical power in the range of 10 to 100 kilowatts with pulsing capabilities in the megawatt region. As such, the major thrust of the DOD space power technology program focuses on the development of military power systems which will extend capabilities to the upper end of these ranges while maintaining technology applicability to the current lower level power requirements. Because of assumed delivery and orbital transfer limitations, the weight and volume of these high power systems must be kept as low as possible without sacrificing the reliability and lifetime of the power systems. These constraints necessitate the early application of very advanced solar/array battery systems and possibly nuclear reactor power supplies. As usual, the survivability of the power systems to natural and imposed radiation environments remains a concern for military systems. In addition to the above, the need for spacecraft system autonomy is being emphasized and programs to enhance the fault-tolerance and energy management of future military power systems are being initiated
