The potential performance of satellite formations is not widely discussed because practical methods for assembling and maintaining these clusters have never been demonstrated. But clusters of small satellites promise to exceed the performance of massive satellites at far lower costs!

For both Solar Power generation and RF Antenna performance, the area covered is the primary consideration. A 100 kg bundle of 1 kg satellites (totaling 1/10 the LEO payload of the Falcon 1), with simple foldout solar panels on each, could actually generate over 10,000 Watts of Solar power when dispersed in orbit. When cooperating as an Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA), one form of Phased Array Antenna for Radio Frequency (RF) communication, this cluster could equal a 6 meter diameter antenna: One far too big to fly in the Space Shuttle!

With the cumulative power available, and the narrow focus of this power on Earth's surface (possibly a 30 meter diameter spot) awesome signal strength is possible! Practical applications would use the AESA system's ability to split the power, and send independent signals simultaneously focused on up to 100 customer's receivers. One Hundred Megabaud communication becomes possible for each subscriber, in even the most remote places on this planet, with modest ground equipment.

Other satellite formations will produce extreme resolution, overhead Synthetic Aperture Radar imagery, and even higher resolution interferometric data to locate objects on the surface. These estimates will not of course be reached in the first test versions, but they can be reached and exceeded. On top of this, individual satellites in the formation can be replaced, by maneuvering a failed unit out and an new one into its place. The entire formation can also be expanded by adding hundreds of new satellite members to support additional customers and enhance the overall performance.

I won't try to cram more about the vast possibilities into this message. But what is frustrating is that I have been trying to find funding (to show that our technology can make all this work) for over ten years without success. As noted, we at last have tentative (but far from firm) interest from DARPA.