NASA is set to send a prototype of an Israeli-developed miniaturized solar-power generator to the International Space Station (ISS) in its first launch of 2020 reported by NoCamels.
The solar- power generator is designed by Professor Emeritus Jeffrey Gordon of the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU), along with his US colleagues from the Pennsylvania State University, University of Illinois, George Washington University, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, H-NU Systems, and Northwestern University, a BGU statement said Sunday.
Prof. Gordon’s research is funded by a grant from the Israel Ministry of Science, Technology & Space. The first-generation prototype is less than 1.7 mm thick with solar cells that are only 0.65 mm on a side.
A second generation that can increase specific power even further is now being designed by the same team at the US Naval Research Labs.
Future prototypes are being planned for private space initiatives as well as space agencies pursuing new missions that require high power for electric propulsion and for operation in deep space (such as missions to Jupiter and Saturn).