Tag: Solar Arrays

  • Vaxon Space Develops VLEO Bus with Air-Breathing Propulsion

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    Vaxon Space is developing the Vaxon Bus, a purpose-built Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO) satellite platform engineered to operate in the 180–250 km altitude band, where conventional spacecraft face severe atmospheric drag and atomic oxygen exposure. The architecture combines air-breathing electric propulsion (ABEP), an atomic-oxygen-resistant airframe, a high-efficiency atmospheric inlet, and deployable solar arrays to…

  • ISS Gets 3 Spacewalks in August for Solar Array Prep

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    Are NASA’s August Spacewalks About Keeping the ISS Alive or Shutting It Down? Three back-to-back extravehicular activities scheduled for August reveal the ISS in a paradoxical operational moment: NASA is simultaneously installing hardware to expand power capacity and running cable work explicitly tied to the station’s future controlled deorbit. The first of the three EVAs…

  • Pentagon Awards $7.1M to Scale Satellite Cover Glass in Ohio

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    Is U.S. Satellite Solar Cell Glass a National Security Vulnerability? $7.1 million. That is what the Pentagon judged it worth to shore up domestic supply of one of the most overlooked consumables in spacecraft manufacturing: radiation-resistant cover glass for satellite solar arrays. The award, made July 17 under Title III of the Defense Production Act,…

  • Pulse Space Advances Laser-Based Orbital Power Solutions

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    Pulse Space is developing a laser-based space power infrastructure designed to provide remote, on-demand power for satellites operating in low Earth orbit (LEO). As satellite deployments continue to grow and onboard solar arrays and batteries face increasing power limitations, the company aims to build what it describes as the “power grid for space,” enabling energy…

  • ESA/NASA complete ISS spacewalk to install first new solar array

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    Two astronauts went outside the International Space Station (ISS) to complete installation of the first of six new Boeing-built solar arrays — part of a program to increase the station’s electrical power generation capacity as its science and research demands increase and future expansion plans continue. The Extravehicular Activity (EVA) – officially known as US…

  • Station power upgrade preparations continued with EVA-72

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    Two astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) conducted a spacewalk to continue the process of increasing the Station’s electrical power generation output. U.S. EVA-72 was conducted by NASA astronaut Kate Rubins and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Soichi Noguchi, who officially began the sojourn at 06:37 EST/11:37 UTC. The spacewalk ended with the major…