tim (02/12/83)
Stanford research Institute is developing a sub-scale model of a 30 ft. diameter, ultra-lightweight passive satellite that will be held at between 65 and 125 miles altitude only be microwaves. There would be no on-board power --- The only thing holding it aloft would be between 300 kW and 600 kW of radiated energy from the ground. It was developed by Dr. Paul Csonka, who is a professor with the department of physics at the University of Oregon at Eugene and a post-doctoral fellow at the Lawrence Levermore Laboratory. A study by the Stanford Research Institure reports that -- in the opinion of the researchers -- the concept is entirely feasible.