New solar array technology provides 25% more power first flight confirms advantages

The first flight of Sierra Nevada Corporation's (SNC) new Surface Mount Technology (SMT) solar array is already providing 25% more power to its host spacecraft than conventional systems. The revolutionary technology is being used on the Air Force Research Laboratory's (AFRL) Satellite for High Accuracy Radar Calibration (SHARC) mission, which was deployed from the International Space Station on May 17, 2017. Among other goals, SHARC is demonstrating calibration capabilities needed to track orbital objects such as satellites and debris. The SHARC solar panel was rapidly delivered to AFRL soon after the contract was awarded. The streamlined design, test and manufacturing process allowed the hardware to be completed in just three months. Future missions will continue to demonstrate this short time cycle for design and manufacturing phases - critical to the rapidly emerging small satellite constellation market. Future missions will benefit from our SMT technology in two possible ways. Spacecraft with the same-sized solar array as a traditional system will have more power for payloads, or the panel size could be reduced - giving that weight and volume to other critical systems. It's a win-win scenario at a much lower cost to customers. The patent-pending (Reference 1) technology offers a significantly higher watt density through automation and standardization. The manufacturing process also supports infinite scalability and high reliability by reducing human contact. Power data from the SHARC mission is being used to confirm performance models and project expectations for a broad range of missions.