Satellite 2016: Space Systems/Loral will offer a solar array providing up to 300kW of power

by | Mar 9, 2016 | exploration, Satellites, Technology | 0 comments

Speaking towards the end of the satellite manufacturers’ forum at Satellite 2016 in Washington D.C. in March, Paul Estey, VP Engineering, Manufacturing and Test Operations at California-based but Canadian-owned Space Systems/Loral, casually mentioned that the company will be offering a new very high power solar array. The solar array is in qualification and should be available to the market within months, has been developed with their solar cell supplier SolAero Technologies Corp.

At launch the array is coiled up like a giant tape measure. On deployment it uncoils using two carbon fibre booms, with each mini panel arranged across like ladder rungs. The units on test are of the order of 8m long, but lengths of well over 10m are possible. Theoretically very high power arrays can be made available of up to 300kW (more than 10 times the power of today’s highest power comsats).

Such high power outputs were originally developed to be directly applicable for the electric propulsion of NASA unmanned and eventually manned long range space missions. The assumption is also that such high power arrays, coupled with high power electric orbit raising thrusters, could dramatically cut the GEO orbit raising time for commercial satellites.

Current generation all electric orbit-raised spacecraft take about six months to reach their stabilised GEO slot – a major disadvantage given that time off-station is revenue lost. Even without this new Space Systems/Loral development, most of the major satellite manufacturers agree that over 75 per cent of GEO satellites built in 2020 will be all electric.

About Seradata

Seradata produces the renowned Seradata database. Trusted by over 100 of the world’s leading Space organisations, Seradata is a fully queryable database used for market analysis, failure/risk assessment, spectrum analysis and space situational awareness (SSA).

For more information go to https://www.seradata.com/product/

Related Articles

Categories

Archives

Tags

nasaspacexecoreviewsissesaArianespacevideochinaFalcon 9v1.2FT Block 525virgin galacticULAfalcon 9evaRoscosmosspacewalkDGAaviation weekBlue OriginInternational Space StationaresIGTsoyuzRocket LabBeidouawardsStarlinkspaceAirbus DSboeingSatellite broadcastingrussiamoonOneWebISROCargo Return VehiclemarsblogresearchspaceshiptwoorionjaxamarsimpactdelayhyperbolaEutelsatdemocratrocketlunarhypertextobamagoogle lunar prizelaunchVegathales alenia spaceSESconstellationtourismbarack obamafiguresnorthspaceflightIntelsatnode 2fundedRaymond Lygo2009Lockheed MartinExpress MD-2Elon MuskAtlas Vromess2dassault aviationsstlaviationLucy2008wk2ukradiosuborbitaltestmissiledocking portexplorationAriane 5 ECAVirgin OrbitinternetSLSLong March 2D/2ElectronNorthrop GrummanChina Manned Space Engineeringsts-122Ariane 5missile defensenewspapercotsgalileospace tourismflight2010Long March 4CspaceportExpress AMU 1buildspace stationaltairsoyuz 2-1aProton Minternational astronautical congressshuttlespace shuttleAriane 6scaled compositesIntelsat 23European Space AgencyLauncherOneCosmoshanleybudgetrulesnew yorkatvVietnamshenzhoucongressMojaveboldennew shepardLong March 2CInmarsatOrbital ATKcnesiaclunar landerGuiana Space CenterApollolawsUS Air ForceSpace Systems/LoralUK Space AgencyLong March 4BKuaizhou 1AkscprotonILSdarpaTalulah RileyVega CElectron KSFalcon 9v1.2 Block 5North KoreaeuSkylonAstriumlanderbaseusaastronautdragonpicturefiveeventTelesatSSLAprilSNC50thinterviewSea LaunchLong MarchfalconWednesdaycustomerlinkatlantissuccessor

Stay Informed with Seradata

Stay informed on the latest news, insights, and more from Seradata by signing up for our newsletter.