Nichols Martin
Boeing will provide six more solar arrays for the International Space Station under a sustainment contract modification with NASA.
The company said Monday it will deliver the arrays to boost ISS's power supply with over 120 kilowatts of solar electricity that will be used to power its systems and equipment and support public and private experiments and research in the station.
The new units will undergo installation in 2021 and work alongside the station's eight existing arrays. Boeing expects the new arrays to increase ISS' power by up to 30 percent.
Santa Barbara, California-based Deployable Space Systems will supply the canister and frame that partly compose the new arrays' structure. These components will function to hold the arrays' blankets.
Boeing's Spectrolab company will manufacture XTJ Prime solar cells — the same technology powering the CST-100 Starliner spacecraft — for the new arrays.
