Powering Large-Scale Near-Earth Infrastructure with Next-Generation Radiation Hardened Silicon Solar Arrays

Development in space continues to flourish, driven by falling launch costs and private investment. This increase in activity is encouraging increasingly large-scale near-Earth infrastructure projects that will require robust financial investment, tremendous power, and ample planning. New developments in solar array technology promise to reduce past cost budgets associated with cell manufacturing, system reliability and launch economics. Recent innovations in low-mass, low-cost solutions for both solar power modules and solar array mechanical structures suggest that there is a more affordable way to power large-scale nearEarth infrastructure.