Emcore Panels to Power NASA's LADEE Moon Orbiter
Source/Type: News - Staff reports

Author: CompoundSemi News Staff

October 31, 2011... Emcore Corporation of Albuquerque, New Mexico USA, has been awarded a contract by ASRC Research and Technology Solutions (ARTS) of Greenbelt, Maryland, to design, manufacture and deliver solar panels for NASA Ames' Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) mission. LADEE will employ Emcore's radiation hardened, multi-junction solar cells designed for space-based applications. Emcore's solar cells boast a beginning-of-life (BOL) conversion efficiency nearing 30% and have the option for a patented, onboard monolithic bypass diode to power interplanetary spacecraft and earth orbiting satellites.

LADEE is a robotic mission designed to orbit the Moon to study and characterize the lunar atmosphere, including fine dust particles suspended above the lunar surface. The spacecraft is currently scheduled to be launched in early 2013 aboard a Minotaur V vehicle from the Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, Virginia. A total of 32 solar panels will be built for LADEE at Emcore's s manufacturing facilities in Albuquerque.

"This contract is an exciting award for Emcore, and we are proud to support NASA's newest lunar mission," said Christopher Larocca, COO for Emcore. "Emcore has previously been awarded solar panel contracts for several other NASA missions, including the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and the Magnetospheric Multi-Scale (MMS) missions. We appreciate NASA's continued confidence in Emcore to supply solar panels for their demanding spacecraft power systems."

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