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| ILC has applied rigidizable inflatable structures technology to the development of several different types of inflatable solar arrays for the collection of power in space and on planetary surfaces. Inflatable rigidizable structures are utilized for deployment and structural support of solar cell blankets, or individual solar cells, in the inflatable solar array. ILC has developed inflatable solar arrays that utilize rigid solar cells, such as high efficiency silicon cells and flexible cells such as amorphous silicon on polyimide substrates. Inflatable rigidizable solar arrays are an enabling technology for extremely large solar arrays, as well as for small arrays where launch volume is limited. Inflatable solar arrays have been developed by ILC for use in the Teledesic program, the New Millennium ST4 Champollion comet lander program, the Inflatable Solar Array flight experiment program, and for other efforts dealing with microspacecraft solar arrays and planetary surface rover solar arrays. |
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Rover Parasol Array
Power Sphere Array
ST4 Solar Array
Teledesic Blanket Array
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| For more information on Space Inflatables, please contact Cliff Willey. |
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