Astrobotic, an American private company that is developing space robotics technology for lunar and planetary missions, has been selected by NASA for a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) award worth approximately $150k to develop an Extra Large Vertical Solar Array Technology (VSAT-XL) for the Moon. VSAT-XL’s impressive size, 34m tall and 12.5m wide, would be the largest planned lunar power infrastructure technology to date to meet the growing energy demands on the lunar surface.

This new array will build on the 10kW lunar VSAT already in development at Astrobotic under an existing NASA contract. VSAT-XL, like its smaller cousin, is a deployable, relocatable, self-leveling, sun-tracking solar powered system. However, it is designed to increase power output from 10 kW to 50 kW.

“As the pace and scale of lunar exploration grows over the next decade, generating, storing, and transmitting power to lunar surface assets will be a critical infrastructure need for permanent lunar settlements,” said Lauren Whitehouse, Lead Structures Engineer at Astrobotic, “Our team is excited to incorporate multiple matured technologies into the development of a first-of-its-kind VSAT unit at this massive scale.”

The VSAT-XL system will incorporate engineering solutions developed by Astrobotic, including systems built for its lunar landers, lunar rovers, and the state-of-the-art 10 kW VSAT system, along with Roll Out Solar Arrays (ROSA) from Redwire Space. The system is ideal for placement near polar craters, where its tall vertical arrays can capture solar energy at shallow sun elevations.

“There is no existing lunar surface power generation and transmission solution that can satisfy the next generation of power needs at the 50 kW scale and above,” said Whitehouse, “We are developing both static and mobile variants, which means VSAT-XL will be designed to integrate with both landers and rovers, and will be grounded in Astrobotic and Redwire’s mature power systems.”

VSAT-XL is part of the LunaGrid system, Astrobotic’s power generation and distribution service for long-term human and robotic operations at the south pole of the Moon. LunaGrid is designed to supply power to enable crewed and robotic operations for months at a time, including Commercial Lunar Payload Service (CLPS) deliveries; larger decadal science missions; commercial payloads; and the Artemis campaign, requiring large quantities of lunar surface power. 

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