"Ask Starpath CEO Saurav Shroff his thoughts on America's space priorities and he'll say we're "one order of magnitude high on cost and one order of magnitude low on ambition." Starpath's answer, at least to part of the problem, is ultra-low cost space power, which is generated by solar panels. Starpath's new space-rated solar panel business kicked off sales in the U.S. on September 25 with an eyebrow-raising pitch. The company says its solar panels, called "Starlight," are priced around 10 times cheaper than typical industry pricing of $7-250 per watt, roughly a 90% cost reduction versus the status quo."
"There will be two product tiers at launch, an "engineering model" and a "flight model." The engineering model is priced at $9.81 per watt, with shipping beginning the second week of October. This model goes through a streamlined testing process, but is not flight-rated, making it suited for prototyping, lab use, and building a satellite ahead of launch, a Starpath representative said. The flight model, designed for in-space use, is $11.20 per watt and is slated to ship in the fourth quarter of this year."
Starpath launched Starlight, a space-rated solar panel product line, in the U.S. on September 25. Two tiers will be available: an engineering model at $9.81 per watt for prototyping and lab use, and a flight model at $11.20 per watt for in-space operations. Pricing represents approximately a 90% reduction versus typical industry pricing. Automated, in-house production lines aim to dramatically increase throughput, with claimed capacity by next year exceeding current global supply of space-rated solar power. Initial shipping times may be as short as three weeks, dropping to three days from December onward.
Read at TechCrunch
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]