Preliminary Study of an In-Space Wireless Power Transmission for CubeSats

Advances in technology allows CubeSats to provide more powerful and cost-effective services in a variety of contexts: from providing reliable internet access in remote areas to utilizing them for deep space missions. Unfortunately, their current power generation capacity relies on solar cells only and remains insufficient for numerous high level applications. This article highlights an additional power supply method to fulfill the energy requirements for advanced, power-intensive applications, also in challenging or extreme conditions. The concept of harnessing wireless power from larger satellites in close orbit, excess power availability, along with adjacent small satellites in swarm formation, is introduced. The idea is to integrate transparent antenna technology onto the existing solar panels, creating a substantial antenna array without requiring any extra space. This integration aims to combine wireless power transfer with solar power generation efficiently. The full-wave simulation of antenna arrays realized on top of solar panels are carried out to provide an accurate estimation of inter-satellite link budget. The predictions suggest that wirelessly powering a CubeSat from a larger satellite, located a few kilometers away is a possible operation.