Solar aerospace specialist mPower Technology Inc. has started up a production line of its solar modules at Universal Instruments Corporation in Conklin, New York.
The Albuquerque-headquartered company, a spin-off of Sandia National Laboratories, says the facility is the world’s first automated, high-volume solar module manufacturing facility for space, enabling delivery for large constellations and lunar power projects.
“[The production line] represents a major step forward today in delivering space-ready, industrial-scale solar power for space missions,” a statement from the company adds.
The site has opened up with a production capacity of 1 MW of mPower’s DragonScales modules, with plans to expand to 2 MW by mid-2026.
The DragonScales modules are made of a flexible, interconnected mesh of silicon cells that mPower has reported are three to five times less expensive than gallium arsenide cells often used for space applications.
The facility is already producing modules for aerospace corporation Airbus under a contract announced last year that will see mPower supply more than 1.1 MW of modules for Airbus’ MDA Aurora satellite program, set to cover more than 200 spacecraft.
“We’re already shipping flight hardware to customers, and as we ramp to multi-megawatt capacity over the next year, we’ll be in position to support the largest and most ambitious space power programs out there,” added CEO Kevin Hell.
In December 2022, mPower’s DragonScales solar power system was chosen as a provider for solar cells on the exterior of a space station housing unit to be developed by Gravitics. The company secured $21 million in Series B funding in May this year, taking its total raised to date to $46 million.
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