p
It can be manufactured in a fraction of the time of conventional solar arrays, according to the Colorado company.
The FlexArray Solar Array system uses proprietary thin-film membranes to mount and deploy solar cells. This results, it says, in very high power-to-volume ratios compared to rigid-panel solar arrays.
The company highlights it is addressing a satellite industry demand for more power at a lower cost.
“As a small, agile business we have to be very intentional when it comes to applying investment, and we recognized this was an area ripe for innovation and disruption,” said Mitch Wiens, president and CEO of MMA Space.
“As we have said, exploring is in our DNA, so we have sustained efforts and dedicated team making sure we continue to pave the way for our
customers with robust, reliable, rapid and affordable solutions at scale.”
According to MMA Space, due to the simplicity of its design, production of the FlexArray can be at high volumes . Hence its targeting at large-scale constellations.
It describes the system as cell agnostic in the sense it can also use traditional solar cells.
See also: Blue Canyon unveils larger Saturn-400 satellite bus