Blue Origin details 10-kW lunar Power Tower network

(SpaceEnergy) Blue Origin has detailed a 20-metre deployable solar Power Tower designed to provide more than 10 kW of electricity and support expandable power networks at the lunar south pole.

The vertically deployed system is intended to harvest near-continuous sunlight available at highly illuminated polar locations and distribute electricity beyond a Blue Moon lander to other lunar surface assets.

Blue Origin said the architecture is modular, allowing future Power Towers to form broader surface networks supporting equipment away from the lander.

The company’s Blue Moon MK1 architecture now identifies Power Towers as part of its lunar infrastructure offering, alongside surface mobility. MK1 uses a liquid-hydrogen and liquid-oxygen BE-7 engine and an oxygen-hydrogen fuel-cell power system.

Blue Origin had previously demonstrated deployment of the Power Tower in an analogue lunar environment in June. That demonstration showed solar arrays extending to a total height of about 26 metres when mounted on the MK1 lander.

The 25 September update provides further system specifications, identifying the Power Tower itself as 20 metres tall, specifying output above 10 kW and describing an architecture intended to extend power from individual landers into future lunar surface networks.